Trump economic policies are winning: Ted Cruz

Economic policies backed by the Trump administration and Republican lawmakers will generate support at the ballot box during the midterm elections, Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, told FOX Business in an interview Monday.

“If you look at the combination of the tax cut last year, the biggest tax cut in a generation, and regulatory reform, repealing the job-killing regulations of the Obama administration, that combination has been phenomenal for the state of Texas,” Cruz said during an interview with FOX Business’ Connell McShane on “Varney & Co.”

“Our economy is booming,” he added, noting that the U.S. recently achieved the lowest unemployment rate since 1969.

Employers added 134,000 jobs in September, below economists’ projections. But the Labor Department made upward revisions to the prior two months, adding a combined 87,000 jobs, and the unemployment rate dropped to 3.7 percent. Meanwhile, average hourly wages rose 2.8 percent over the last 12 months.

In Texas, the unemployment rates was 3.9 percent in August, the most recent month of data from the Labor Department. That was down from 4 percent in July.

Economists have partly credited the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, signed by President Trump in December 2017, for supporting strong business investment and consumer sentiment this year. U.S. economic growth hit 4.2 percent in the second quarter, the fastest pace in nearly four years. The Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta has forecast 4.1 percent growth in the third quarter, while White House economist Kevin Hassett recently placed “50-50” odds that GDP growth for the current period would top 4 percent.

Cruz, who is running for re-election in a closer-than-expected race against Democrat Beto O’Rourke, said the Trump administration’s economic agenda has provided “real results for the people of Texas.”

“I’m going to keep working with the president to keep producing those results because my No. 1 priority is jobs,” Cruz said, citing the lowest African-American and Hispanic unemployment on record. “That’s what the people of Texas want. More jobs, higher wages, more opportunity, and we’re seeing it because our policies are working.”

When asked about voter enthusiasm ahead of the midterm elections in November, Cruz said the confirmation process for Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh “energized conservatives.” He also said economic gains may not have been enough to attract some voters to the polls because “success can breed complacency” in politics.

“I think [Republicans] are angry at the behavior of Senate Democrats,” Cruz said. “That’s helpful because the better the economy does, the more risk there is that people take it for granted if they don’t understand that the policies that are producing 4 million new jobs [and] record-high 401(k)s and the stock market” can be reversed by Democrats.

Some polls show a tight race between Cruz and O’Rourke, though a Quinnipiac survey last month gave the incumbent Republican a 9-point lead.