Johnson gets heated when pressed on tax policy

Gary Johnson got heated during an exchange on the Libertarian presidential nominee’s tax proposals with a reporter for The Guardian. 

When Guardian reporter Paul Lewis said he looked for credible economists who support Johnson’s ideas, Johnson said, “We have a difference of opinion.”

{mosads}”I’m not saying you and I disagree, I’m saying … most of the world’s major economists disagree with you,” Lewis responded during the interview published Thursday. 

Johnson, who has supported abolishing the IRS and replacing income and corporate taxes with a consumption tax, calmly said he didn’t want to argue with the reporter. He then erupted while pivoting toward his support for legalizing marijuana.

“Look, I came out for the legalization of marijuana — let me just use that as an example — and I will tell you that I had people in my face for years and years and years talking about how stupid and how idiotic it was that we should allow marijuana to be legal,” Johnson said.

When the reporter asked what this had to do with Johnson’s tax policy, Johnson’ replied, “It’s leadership.” 

Johnson told The Guardian that he thinks there is almost no chance of his tax proposals being passed, adding that he was advised on them by the faculty at Chapman University, a private school in California.

Johnson is not the only presidential candidate who supports a consumption tax. During the GOP presidential primaries, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee put forth a similar plan to Johnson. Other Republican candidates and lawmakers have supported moving the U.S. toward a system that taxes cash flow rather than income.