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LeadershipDonald Trump

Donald Trump calls high CEO pay a ‘complete joke’

By
Michal Addady
Michal Addady
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By
Michal Addady
Michal Addady
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September 13, 2015, 2:44 PM ET
Republican Presidential Candidates Address 2015 Family Leadership Summit
AMES, IA - JULY 18: Republican presidential hopeful businessman Donald Trump fields questions at The Family Leadership Summit at Stephens Auditorium on July 18, 2015 in Ames, Iowa. According to the organizers the purpose of The Family Leadership Summit is to inspire, motivate, and educate conservatives. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)Photograph by Scott Olson — Getty Images

When asked about high CEO pay on CBS’ Face the Nation Sunday morning, Donald Trump called it a “complete joke.”

John Dickerson, host of the talk show, stated that a typical CEO’s salary is now 350 times higher than the pay of the average worker. Trump said that this bothers him, but it’s difficult to do anything about it because of the free enterprise system. He added that boards of directors are supposed to control pay, but don’t because CEOs generally appoint their friends as board members.

Trump specifically called out Macy’s (M) for being guilty of this common practice. The company recently severed business ties with the presidential candidate after his comments about immigrants.

He then spoke about his tax plan, which we can expect he will officially release in three weeks. He wants to lower the corporate tax rate to allow companies to bring money back into the country, which he says they can’t do now because that money goes towards paying taxes.

Trump also said he plans to reduce taxes on the middle class and will raise taxes on “the hedge fund guys.”

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