Republican policies supporting GDP growth: Mike Pence

Vice President Mike Pence, speaking in an exclusive interview with FOX Business’ Maria Bartiromo, credited Trump administration policies and the Republican Congress for reviving the U.S. economy.

In an interview Friday following a report on second-quarter GDP, Pence told Bartiromo that the administration “really believe(s) the internals of these numbers.”

He noted the increase in business investment and American exports as evidence that strong GDP growth is sustainable.

“The policies that President Trump has been advancing, that our Republican Congress has been supporting, are actually working to revive this economy,” he said during an interview that will air on Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures.”

The Commerce Department said GDP grew by 4.1% in the latest quarter, the fastest pace in nearly four years.

The Vice President also reacted to Trump’s criticism of the Federal Reserve’s interest rate hikes.

“I put in a very good man in the Fed,” Trump said in a recent CNBC interview, referring to Fed Chairman Jerome Powell. “I don’t necessarily agree with it because he’s raising interest rates.”

Pence said the administration respects the independence of the central bank, and the president was merely reflecting his opinion on any potential interest rate hikes in the near future.

“The president reflected his own personal opinion about that. But what we don’t want to see happen going forward is we don’t want policies, whether Capitol Hill or elsewhere, that diminish the tremendous energy that we have in this economy today,” Pence said.

Maria Bartiromo's full interview with Vice President Mike Pence airs on “Sunday Morning Futures” on Sunday, July 29, at 10 a.m. ET on Fox News Channel.