Trump's Former Economic Adviser Says He Is Unsure If He Will Support Biden Or Trump

Gary Cohn, a former economic adviser to President Trump, said Monday he is unsure whether he supports the president’s campaign for a second term. Cohn, a registered Democrat, is also considering a vote for former vice president and Democratic nominee Joe Biden.

“I honestly haven’t made up my mind. I’m really eager to see an economic debate between the two of them,” Cohn told CNBC’s “Squawk on the Street” program. “I actually vote on issues.”

Cohn was previously the director of the National Economic Council from January 2017 to April 2018. Cohn was then replaced in the position by CNBC contributor Larry Kudlow.

Cohn announced his resignation in March 2018 after the president decided to impose tariffs on steel and aluminum. Cohn also reportedly considered stepping down in 2017 due to Trump’s controversial comments after the Unite The Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia.

Cohn, 60, previously worked at Goldman Sachs for more than 25 years, serving as the bank’s president and COO. During his tenure in the Trump administration, Cohn spearheaded the effort to pass the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017.

Cohn urged congress and the White House to do more to help small businesses hurt by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Our small businesses in this country — they are key to our success, they are key to our economic growth and they are key to jobs — they still are hurting,” Cohn said. “They’re really in need of more stimulus, they’re in need of more help.”

Negotiations over a “phase four” COVID-19 relief package remain at a standstill after a “skinny” bill failed in the Republican-majority Senate last week. On Friday, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said she was “optimistic” about a stimulus agreement prior to the November election, but Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., had a dimmer outlook on the situation.

“I wish I could tell you we’re going to get another package,” McConnell said Friday at a visit to his home state. “But it doesn’t look that good right now.”

The president of the Chamber of Commerce, Suzanne Clark, also recently called for more stimulus.

“As a business community and a nation, we cannot allow millions of workers and broad swaths of our economy to be left behind in the COVID recovery,” she wrote in an op-ed earlier this month.