Trump and Republicans 'weaponized' the tax code to 'punish blue states': CNN analyst

On Monday's edition of CNN's "New Day," political analyst John Avlon laid bare the way that President Donald Trump and the GOP have politicized the federal tax code.

"Whether you see your taxes go up or down will depend on whether you live in a red state or blue state, and that's by design," said Avlon. "First, a little history. December 22nd, 2017, that's when President Trump's tax plan was signed into law. Kind of a Christmas gift to corporations and red state residents. Passed entirely along party lines ... it slashed the amount of state and local taxes you could deduct to $10,000, it limited the mortgage interest deduction and that's where the representation of the tax code became evident."

"According to data from H&R block, among states where refunds went up this year the top ten are all red states," said Avlon. "Among states where tax refunds went down, you guessed it, the top ten are all blue states. Notice a pattern?"

"It's no surprise in areas where most Americans live, it costs more to buy a house, and guess who is more likely to need a mortgage, again, red states deduct while new states are stuck," Avlon continued. "This has become known as the blue state triple whammy because Trump's tax code has made it more expensive to buy a home, more expensive to own a home and harder to sell your home."

"But guess who does even better under Trump's tax code, Trump's own commercial real estate industry, the same industry which Jared Kushner's company bought a white elephant of a building at a record price right before the market crashed and is still worth around $3 million and paid little or no federal income taxes or at least seven years," Avlon added.

"President Nixon said never make taxation popular, but we can make it fair," said Avlon. "With the politically weaponized tax code that punishes blue states, President Trump seems to have failed at both and that's your reality check."

Watch below: