Politicians' views of deficits and debt tend to oscillate based on their current and likely governing responsibilities. When out of power, it is routine to denounce the recklessness of those making the decisions. When holding power, or expecting to do so soon, elected officials and their supporters don't want fiscal concerns to stand in the way of their plans.
In recent years, Republicans have provided a textbook example of this pattern. The Tea Party candidates of 2010 railed against the high deficits of the Obama years. But after 2016, with the government fully under GOP control, Republicans made the problem worse. The tax cut of 2017 had many admirable provisions, but Republicans should have paired it with serious additional tax or spending reforms to narrow future deficits. In his recent State of the Union address, President Trump never mentioned the government's deficits or debt.
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