Trump adviser asks supporters to ‘put socialism on trial’

White House adviser Larry Kudlow excoriated Trump administration’s “opponents” for supporting socialism and trying to halt economic growth. 

Kudlow, who began his tenure as director of the National Economic Council last year, asked supporters at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Washington to put socialism “on trial.”

{mosads}“I want you, everybody in this room and your friends and your neighbors, I want you to put socialism on trial. That’s what I’m asking you to do,” he told the gathering. “I don’t want us to stand idly by. I don’t want to let this stuff fester, I want it challenged, I want it debated, I want it rebutted, and I want to convict socialism.”

Kudlow chastised Democrats for new progressive proposals such the “Green New Deal,” an initiative to combat climate change by investing funds for eco-friendly jobs, and plans to boost taxes on the nation’s wealthiest earners. 

“The Green New Deal would literally destroy the economy, literally. It would knock out energy transportation, airlines, jobs, businesses. We’d probably lose 10-15 percent of our GDP. That’s what our opponents and critics are saying,” he claimed.

“Our socialist friends want to tax and regulate more of everything. We cannot permit that. Stop prosperity killers, stop job killers, stop incentive killers,” he added. 

Socialism has become a focal point of criticism from Republicans since President Trump upbraided Democrats during the State of the Union address earlier this month. 

“Here, in the United States, we are alarmed by new calls to adopt socialism in our country. America was founded on liberty and independence — not government coercion, domination, and control. We are born free, and we will stay free. Tonight, we renew our resolve that America will never be a socialist country,” Trump said in the annual speech. 

Possibly seeing socialism as a potent wedge issue, several speakers at CPAC Thursday echoed similar criticism of Democrats for adopting policies they slammed as socialist in nature.