Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump made several headlines Friday, refusing to disclose even what tax rate he pays until an IRS audit of his tax returns is complete and denying that he posed as his spokesman during interviews in the early 1990s.
Advertisement
When asked if voters have a right to see his returns before they head to the polls, Trump replied “I don’t think they do”.
Stephanopoulos interviewed Trump for GMA Friday and things started out fairly routine, with the host bringing up that the NY businessman has been hit by presumptive Democrat nominee Hillary Clinton for not releasing his tax returns.
Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton this week questioned Trump’s reluctance to release his returns, and Trump sought to turn the tables on her, calling her a “hypocrite” for doing so.
“But I fight very hard to pay as little tax as possible”, he said. The returns also will nearly surely reveal he’s taken tax dodges that may be legitimate for a real estate professional but will look bad to the vast majority of his supporters. “When the audit ends I’m going to present them”, he said. Further, he could release returns for the years immediately prior to the years under audit.
“Our country has a long history of presidential candidates releasing their full tax returns and for good reason”, said Hillary for America Deputy Communications Director Christina Reynolds. “I do not have Swiss bank accounts”, he said. Sanders released his 2014 return in April, while former first lady Clinton posted the past eight years of her and her husband’s tax returns on her website in August.
Releasing one’s tax returns was, until this year at least, an established practice for presidential candidates. “And there have been many presidents who have not released their tax returns”.
“Mr. Trump, tear down that tax wall”, Romney said. She said I happen to agree with you.
When Trump stated that he had released his “financials”, the ABC host countered by saying, “What the financials don’t show is your tax rate”.
On Tuesday, the 2012 Republican nominee Mitt Romney slammed Trump’s refusal to release the forms as a “disqualifying” offense.
Again, in 2016: “I’m always audited by the IRS, which I think is very unfair”.
Advertisement
Pointed out that every major party nominee since 1976 has released returns, Mr. Trump said: “But before 1976, people didn’t do it”. He said Romney should instead turn his attention to “the 70,000-plus-page tax code”. “So you have got to ask yourself, why does he not release them?”. The presumptive Republican nominee is hiding information that voters need to know to make an informed evaluation of his candidacy for president.
