Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick appeared on CNBC Thursday to defend President Donald Trump's new "Gold Card" visa program, which allows applicants to buy U.S. citizenship for $1 million.

Lutnick: So you've got to be able to bring in the best and brightest to the country. This concept where you just get online to come into the United States of America and you just come on in, I mean, the average green card holder in America makes one-third less than the average American. We should be bringing in the best and the brightest, and that's what Donald Trump is changing about our immigration system. Let's expedite the best and the brightest who are going to give a million dollars to the United States to prove they're at the top of the list.

Kernen: I guess just the optics of it is what both

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