Icahn Pegs Trump As Obvious Blue-Collar Candidate

Republican nominee Donald Trump has at least one unabashed fan of his economic plan unveiled earlier this week. And he’s a Wall Street heavy-hitter — none other than billionaire investor Carl Icahn.

Reuters reported on Tuesday (Aug. 9) that Icahn, speaking with CNBC, said the billionaire nominee is “right on about the economy” and further stated that the “Archie Bunker[s] of the world” will cast their ballots for Trump.

Bunker, of course, is the everyman, blue-collar and, at the time, controversial television character from the 1970s. “Any middle-class worker, you know, ‘the Archie Bunker of the world’ — that was a great show, I used to watch it — those guys are going to vote for him because those are smart guys,” Icahn predicted of the blue-collar workers of today. “They know they are getting screwed, and that is what I think will happen … Archie Bunker is a middle-class guy, somewhat educated even, that doesn’t know where his next check is coming to send his son or daughter to school, doesn’t know if he’s going to keep his job … Why the hell should he vote for a system that is not giving him a good-paying job?” continued Icahn to the television channel.

As has been widely reported, Trump’s economic plan hinges on tax breaks, alongside a throttling of federal rules and regulations across a myriad of areas of the U.S. economy.

Reuters reported that Icahn said via Twitter: “Trump is right on about our economy. A capitalistic system cannot exist if government is at war with business. CEOs, rightly so, are afraid to invest in new equipment, etc. to make our manufacturing competitive.”

“It is no surprise that today it was announced growth in productivity was down for the third straight quarter and is at an all-time low. Our workers cannot be productive with ‘worn-out tools.'”