Fox News Host Confronts Lindsey Graham Over Backing Tax Cuts That Add $2T to Deficit

Fox News anchor Chris Wallace confronted Senator Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican, on Sunday over supporting former President Donald Trump's 2017 tax cuts—which are projected to add some $2 trillion to the national debt—while criticizing Democrats for pushing forward legislation that is not entirely paid for.

Graham, along with other Republican lawmakers, has strongly criticized President Joe Biden's Build Back Better Act, raising alarms that it will add hundreds of billions to the deficit if passed into law. Last month, the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) projected that the social spending package "would result in a net increase in the deficit of $367 billion over the 2022-2031 period, not counting additional revenue that may be generated by additional funding for tax enforcement."

Then this week, the CBO released another score of the Build Back Better act, which assumed that the programs would be made permanent. That estimate predicted the legislation would "increase the deficit by $3 trillion over 2022 to 2031" if the provisions were extended without measures to pay for them. Graham, along with GOP Representative Jason Smith of Missouri, requested the modified CBO estimate.

Wallace pointed out to Graham during an interview on Fox News Sunday that he supported Trump's signature tax cuts in 2017, despite CBO estimating they'd add some $2 trillion to the deficit. When those tax cuts were passed, Republicans claimed that the tax cuts would pay for themselves, despite the CBO scoring.

"In 2017, President Trump and all Senate Republicans voted for the tax cuts then that added $2 trillion to [the deficit]," Wallace said. "And in fact, you talk about budget gimmicks, it used the same budget gimmick there. For instance, saying that individual tax cuts were going to end in 2025," Wallace said.

Wallace then played a clip of White House press secretary Jen Psaki making the same point, suggesting that Republicans' argument against Build Back Better is hypocritical.

"Senator, does she have a point?" Wallace asked Graham.

The South Carolina Republican responded by saying, "No, not really." He went on to say that he likes "giving money back to the taxpayer" and that he doesn't like "spending more money than we did in World War II." Graham said that Democrats are "lying" when they say the bill will be paid for.

Wallace then interjected. "But sir, respectfully, what Jen Psaki is saying—and a lot of Democrats are saying—is that when President Trump and you—you collectively..."

Graham interrupted, asking: "What's that got to do with anything?"

"Let me just finish," the Fox News anchor continued. "[You] passed the 2017 tax cut—that was a lie. It wasn't paid for," he asserted.

Graham suggested that the CBO score didn't project far enough to show that the tax cuts would be paid for—pointing out that it didn't go beyond 10 years. "We voted knowing cutting taxes we believed would be good. I never said cutting taxes—I voted for cutting taxes," the senator said.

"I'm against expanding the government. They're telling you it doesn't cost anything, Chris. Well the CBO says it costs $3 trillion."

Whether the Build Back Better Act is approved by Congress remains to be seen. The "human infrastructure" bill was approved by the House with a party-line vote last month. It now is facing difficult negotiations in the Senate, with moderate Democratic Senators Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona not yet saying whether they will support the bill. In order for it to be approved, all 50 members of the Senate's Democratic Caucus would need to vote in favor.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, a New York Democrat, continues to optimistically project that the Senate will approve the bill by Christmas. If passed and signed into law, the legislation would extend the popular Child Tax Credit approved as part of Biden's American Rescue Plan in the spring. Build Back Better would additionally work to address the high costs of prescriptions drugs, expand Medicare coverage, increase options for low-income Americans to purchase health insurance through Medicaid and provide Americans with new child care subsidies, among other Democratic priorities.

Wallace's interview with Graham came as he announced Sunday that he would be leaving Fox News for CNN+. In a statement sent to Newsweek, Fox News said it was "extremely proud of our journalism and the stellar team that Chris Wallace was a part of for 18 years." Wallace called his time at the popular cable network "a great ride."

Graham tweeted about the news, expressing his respect for Wallace and his journalism.

"Shocked to hear that Chris Wallace is leaving #FoxNewsSunday. I have thoroughly enjoyed my time on the show. Chris challenged everyone fairly and tried to give his viewers the best information to evaluate issues," the South Carolina Republican tweeted on Sunday.

"Chris will be missed. He should be proud of what he and his team have accomplished at @FoxNewsSunday," Graham wrote.