The Republican presidential campaign entered a new week with some memorable moments. Frontrunner Donald Trump revealed his tax plan on Monday in New York while rival Carly Fiorina barely escaped a falling curtain wall at an event in San Antonio.
Trump promised to cut income taxes for middle-class as well as wealthy Americans, while eliminating them altogether for people making less than $25,000 a year. He also said he would slash corporate taxes by half and reduce taxes for businesses, both to help create new jobs. He said he would eliminate exemptions and close tax loopholes for the rich.
"We are lowering taxes very substantially, we are simplifying and we are getting rid of deductions that are actually obsolete," said Trump.
Trump's Republican rivals did not have comments. Senator Marco Rubio was quite emphatic about it during a radio interview.
"I am not interested in the back and forth to be a member or part of his freak show," said Rubio.
Democratic Party presidential frontrunner Hillary Clinton slammed Trump's proposal, saying the rich would benefit most from it. But both she and Trump have criticized the loopholes that help speculators, such as hedge funders, avoid taxes.
Trump was well received at a meeting with Christian and Jewish clergy Monday in his Trump Tower offices.
"He wasn't trying to pander to us to gain our support. He was speaking to us as one of us," said one pastor who attended.
But the polls show the billionaire's Republican rivals catching up to him, with former surgeon Ben Carson only one point behind in opinion surveys.
"It kind of reflects what we've been seeing out on the road - just tremendous crowds but enormous enthusiasm,” said Carson.
Former business executive Carly Fiorina had a memorable moment during her campaign Monday when she barely escaped a heavy curtain wall crashing onto the stage where she spoke.
Fiorina joked afterward that the fall could have been arranged by Trump or Clinton.
