Harris campaign slams Trump's claim that Fed rate cuts are politically motivated

Odaily Odaily News U.S. Vice President Harris' campaign team slammed Trump's criticism of the Federal Reserve's first interest rate cut in four years and focused on economic issues ahead of the November presidential election. Trump expressed his views after the Federal Reserve cut interest rates by 50 basis points on September 19, calling it a "political move" and saying a 25 basis point cut would be appropriate. He has previously suggested that independent central banks should be controlled to some extent by the executive branch. A campaign memo shows that Harris' senior policy adviser Brian Nelson called Trump's response "reckless." Trump claimed without evidence that the Fed's decision was politically motivated and "tried to keep someone in power," although he did not say in the Newsmax interview that he supported higher interest rates. The White House called the rate cut "welcome news." The release of the Harris campaign's information comes before Trump is scheduled to give a speech in North Carolina on Saturday, where he is expected to talk about economic issues that are unfavorable to Harris, including the highest inflation rate in the United States in 40 years during Biden's presidency and polls that have been supportive of Trump's handling of the economy. In contrast, Nelson believes Trump "would be an economic disaster as president," noting predictions that higher tariffs and continued tax cuts for the wealthy could have inflationary effects. (Bloomberg)