Though several prominent GOP lawmakers bucked Americans for Tax Reform President Grover Norquist and his anti-tax pledge in recent days, Norquist suggested on Monday that these Republicans will never get the chance to break the pledge.
Norquist pointed out that lawmakers like Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Rep. Peter King of New York have said they would break their pledge only in exchange for a laundry list of reforms and cuts, which Norquist says Democrats will never agree to.
“I've had long conversations with Lindsey Graham. He says I would raise taxes ‘if,’ then he lists this incredible list of reforms and entitlements that the Democrats would never give him,” Norquist said on CNN’s Starting Point. “I suggested, Senator, you’re offering to trade a tax increase for a pink unicorn that doesn't exist.”
Norquist also claims that, so far, no pledge-taker has actually voted for a tax increase, although some have discussed the prospect of doing so publicly, including during the debt ceiling crisis in 2011.
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