Providing money to lower-income individuals will help stimulate the economy, Vanessa Williamson, an analyst at the left-leaning Brookings Institution, said Friday on "What America's Thinking."

"It's certainly the case that if you want to stimulate the economy, you give money to lower-income people," Williamson, a governance studies fellow at Brookings, told Hill.TV host Jamal Simmons.

"They will spend it, and it will jumpstart the economy. That's absolutely true," she continued.

The economic impact of the redistribution of wealth has long been a point of contention between Republicans and Democrats.

The issue has come to a head in recent months, with President Trump Donald John TrumpOmar fires back at Trump over rally remarks: 'This is my country' Pelosi: Trump hurrying to fill SCOTUS seat so he can repeal ObamaCare Trump mocks Biden appearance, mask use ahead of first debate MORE and his GOP allies accusing Democrats of being "socialists" who want to completely upend the country's economic system.

A majority of Democrats, meanwhile, has contended that raising taxes on the wealthy would benefit the U.S. economy.

A new Hill-HarrisX survey released Friday, found that 40 percent of Democratic and Democratic-leaning voters polled said they favored tax hikes for high-income people.

— Julia Manchester