The Late Show's studio audience cheered loudly Monday night when Stephen Colbert talked about how Ronald Reagan raised taxes while in office during his interview with Sen. Ted Cruz (R., Texas).
Cruz and Colbert had a friendly, if pointed, exchange about the legacy of Reagan and whether some of his less conservative policies would be at home in today's Republican Party, where Reagan is still revered. Cruz said economic growth "exploded" under Reagan in the 1980s with reduced regulations and taxation.
"But when conditions changed in the country, he reversed his world's largest tax cut and raised taxes when revenues did not match the expectations," Colbert said, to loud cheers from the audience. "So it's a matter of compromising."
Full exchange:
STEPHEN COLBERT: Are those aspects of Reagan something you could agree with? Raising taxes and amnesty for illegal immigrants. Could you agree with Reagan on those two things?
TED CRUZ: No, of course not.
COLBERT: All right.
CRUZ: But Ronald Reagan also signed the largest tax cut in history. He reduced government regulations from Washington.
COLBERT: He did.
CRUZ: And economic growth exploded. You know, when Reagan came in, from 1978 to 1982, growth averaged less than one percent a year. There's only one other four-year period where that's true. That's true from 2008 to 2012, and what Reagan did, he cut taxes, he cut regulations, he unchained small businesses, and economic growth boomed. Millions of people were lifted out of poverty into prosperity and the middle class.
COLBERT: But when conditions changed in the country, he reversed his world's largest tax cut and raised taxes when revenues did not match the expectations, so it's a matter of compromising.
The audience didn't do much to hide its feelings for Cruz; at one point, Colbert admonished some members for booing Cruz's views on gay marriage, and he received a fairly muted reception when introduced by the host.
Under the left-leaning Colbert, who previously hosted the satirical Colbert Report on Comedy Central, The Late Show has proven to be a hot ticket for announced and potential 2016 presidential candidates, with Jeb Bush and Joe Biden already appearing since it began September 8.