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发帖数: 1 | 1 Donald Trump made a BIG mistake on his taxes answer in the 1st debate
Analysis by Chris Cillizza, CNN Editor-at-large 12 hrs ago
Former Trump adviser: Trump largely failed in first debate against Biden
Wallace on the presidential debate: 'It was revealing'
In the wake of the bombshell New York Times report over the weekend that
revealed just how little Donald Trump has paid in federal income taxes over
the past two decades, the President and his top aides condemned the story as
"fake news," but were very careful not to say exactly what was incorrect or
offer any specifics of their own to rebut the piece.
Donald Trump wearing a suit and tie: US President Donald Trump speaks before
signing an Executive Order on the White House Hispanic Prosperity
Initiative at the White House in Washington, DC, on July 9, 2020. (Photo by
JIM WATSON / AFP) (Photo by JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images)© JIM
WATSON/AFP/AFP via Getty Images US President Donald Trump speaks before
signing an Executive Order on the White House Hispanic Prosperity Initiative
at the White House in Washington, DC, on July 9, 2020. (Photo by JIM WATSON
/ AFP) (Photo by JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images)
That changed on Tuesday night, when under pressure from moderator Chris
Wallace, Trump said something that may come to regret. Here's the exchange:
Wallace: ... I'm asking you a question. Will you tell us how much you paid
in federal income taxes in 2016 and 2017?
Trump: Millions of dollars.
Wallace: You paid millions of dollars?
Trump: Millions of dollars, yes.
Wallace: So not $750?
NYT: Trump paid no federal taxes for much of last two decades, faces
crippling debt
Click to expand
Trump: Millions of dollars and you'll get to see it -- and you'll get to see
it.
What Trump did there is directly deny (on tape!) the reporting from The New
York Times that he paid just $750 in federal income taxes in 2016 and 2017.
And he actually did more than that. He insisted he paid "millions of dollars
" in federal income taxes.
That's very different than what Trump has said in the past -- and in the
last few days following the Times report -- about his taxes.
He's repeatedly insisted that he pays lot of taxes. But that sort of vague
language allows him to include state income tax as well as assorted other
taxes -- Social Security, Medicare, investment income, etc. -- that, for
someone with Trump's wealth, could actually total millions of dollars. And
that fuzzy language also allows Trump to dispute the Times story as fake
without engaging with its central premise: That he paid little (or no)
federal income tax for the vast majority of the last two decades.
But by saying unequivocally, that he has paid "millions of dollars" in
federal income taxes, Trump is directly disputing the Times report. But here
's the thing: The Times has the receipts. Literally.
"The New York Times has obtained tax-return data extending over more than
two decades for Mr. Trump and the hundreds of companies that make up his
business organization, including detailed information from his first two
years in office," wrote the story's authors in their first piece about Trump
's taxes.
Now, it's not at all clear whether (or if) the Times would release any of
the data they have on Trump's returns. As they note in their initial story:
"All of the information The Times obtained was provided by sources with
legal access to it. While most of the tax data has not previously been made
public, The Times was able to verify portions of it by comparing it with
publicly available information and confidential records previously obtained
by The Times."
And we know that Trump won't release his own returns despite his insistence
on Tuesday night (and throughout his presidency) that "you'll get to see it.
" Trump also continues to hide behind the claim that he can't release his
tax returns because he is under audit. That is false. We also know that
Trump will fight tooth-and-nail any attempt by the Times (or anyone else) to
release them.
Regardless, Trump has now boxed himself into a very small corner. Either he
paid "millions" in federal income taxes in 2016 and 2017 (as he claimed on
Tuesday night) or he has paid $750 in each of those years (as the Times has
reported.) Both statements can't be true.
Know how Trump could straighten all of this out? By releasing his 2016 and
2017 tax returns. That he not only refuses to do but has unleashed a massive
legal assault on any attempts to get those records should tell you
everything you need to know about which side is likely telling the truth
here. |
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