It’s doesn’t surprise me to learn that Donald Trump has completely reversed himself on the subject of presidential candidates releasing their tax returns since he commented on Mitt Romney’s reluctance to do so in 2012. I doubt he’s anywhere near as rich as he claims to be, and there’s probably a major political liability contained in them because of how little he pays in taxes compared to ordinary Americans.
The problem for Trump is that he’s damned if he does, but he’s still damned if he doesn’t.
The overwhelming majority of US voters think Donald Trump should release his tax returns, new polls show.
A Morning Consult poll released Tuesday found that 67% of voters thought presidential candidates should be required to release their tax returns. Just 21% did not think it should be a requirement.
On Sunday, an ABC News-Washington Post poll found that 64% of voters thought Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee, should release his returns. In addition, 54% of respondents felt strongly that the Manhattan billionaire should do so. Just 31% were fine with Trump withholding the release of his tax returns.
On the whole, it’s probably better for him to take these hits than to release his taxes and have to explain all the lies he’s been telling. But the Democrats are going to hit him like a jackhammer on his failure to divulge from now to Election Day.
So what? 90+% of the USA supports background checks to buy a gun. Did that push Republicans into supporting new laws – NO!
Trump will not lose even one vote by not releasing his taxes. The right wing doesn’t care, and he knows it.
Yes, but unlike the failure of Republicans in Congress to act with regard to gun control, it’s voters who will be weighing in on Trump’s failure to release his tax returns.
Which means, of course, this issue has to be hammered home — or that Trump has to be “hit like a jackhammer,” as booman put it — so that voters are and remain aware of its significance.
And it’s drip, drip, drip. Sure, taxes alone may not resonate as an issue. But taxes, Russian connections, attacking soliders parents, freaking out on debates, etc.
Eventually plenty of people will throw up their hands.
.
The key, I’d think, isn’t to hammer him for not releasing his taxes, but to hammer him with theories about why. He’s only worth 10% of what he claims. He’s a fully owned subsidiary of Kremlin Inc. There’s evidence of hush-money payments to women he’s harassed. His taxes show he funded the Khorasan Group and was duped by Madoff …
I like that. Hammer him with theories that might be worse than the truth. That could be effective.
He’s mobbed up.
If you do big time real estate in NYC, can you NOT be mobbed up?
The “middle wing” doesn’t seem too messed up about it, either.
He knows that, too.
AG
Trump will need approximately 60 million Americans to vote for him in November. He’ll need votes from tens of millions who are not hard right wingers.
About 27 million voted in the Republican primaries and caucuses; Trump got a little over 12 million votes in those contests.
Claiming he won’t lose a single vote from this requires you to ignore the poll BooMan shares here.
Three more articles on Trump this a.m.
We can get a whinny out of this dead horse.
Meanwhile, off-topic for America:
“US Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Joseph Dunford arrived at the Turkish southern Incirlik airbase on Monday…”
Nobody wants to publicize their tax returns. Hard to see how failure to do so harms politicians much. I agree that politicians should be required to, as a matter of law. They should also be required to pass a US citizenship test and prove general secondary educational competency in letters and science (maybe required to release their SAT scores or something). But it’s hard to see most voters caring too much about tax returns.
“Hard to see how failure to do so harms politicians much.”
No winning Presidential candidate has refused to release their tax returns since Nixon.
Despite their reputation for secrecy, Hillary and Bill Clinton have released their tax returns back to 1977.
After the ’72 election, Richard Nixon released years of his returns while they were being audited.
Hay absolutely can and should be made out of Trump’s refusal to submit here, for multiple reasons.
I don’t know. The man’s an abomination. His failure to disclose his tax returns hardly seems like a critical flaw. Maybe there’s an angle on it, but, this season it sounds picayune.
I apologize to those who said that Ferret Head was going to dodge the debates. I just didn’t think it possible. That the FINAL Presidential debates.
I am coming around to agreeing with you.
I am just nosy enough to want to see Trump’s tax return. I saw Clinton’s for 2014 and was impressed by both their speaking fees. But so what? Now Trump, that might be more interesting.
People saying they want him to release his taxes is not the same thing as holding him accountable if he doesn’t. Ditto for the media. I’m skeptical this really matters to folks that don’t already oppose him. Still, every little bit helps.
I say he dodges the debates or does get a 3 or 4-way.
And no release of taxes.
I don’t think he wants to dodge the debates. Instead, it looks like to me like he’s trying to get more coverage of them. He wants to not compete with the NFL…a fave of many, many potential Trump voters, bet on it. He thinks he’s got HRC’s number, just as he did little Mario’s and dull Bush III’s.
We’ll see, soon enough.
Won’t we.
AG
“…a 3 or 4-way?”
What are they?
Sounds like brothel talk. Fitting in this whorehouse of a campaign.
AG
“…a 3 or 4-way?”
obviously referring to having Johnson or Stein or both in the debate, which I think Trump started hinting about this weekend.
Duh!!!
Of course!!!
Thanks.
AG
Returns yes, but I’d like to add in a copy of the IRS audit letter to see what they’re questioning.
The real secret is Trump would have to get permission from his leader Putin. See Trump has so many dealings with Putin he is scared to offend Russia by Americans finding out.
There ya go one for all of you conspiracy theorists out there.
Actually I agree with Booman.
These tax returns may not yield much information other than totals and tax rates. the detail is hidden like in income from an agency or trust, even contributions are made to a foundation. So I surmise form that that Trump doesn’t have as much income as he wants us all to believe.
I’m curious to see his tax returns, even though they wouldn’t provide a complete picture of Trump’s financial status, business dealings, etc.
But Trump’s die-hard supporters? They don’t give a stuff, and it simply doesn’t matter to them.
When Mitt RMoney finally released – what was it? Only 1 year I think – his tax return, and it showed he only paid something like 14% in taxes??? It was like a big So What? from his base. Sure RMoney didn’t win, but it wasn’t bc of the big reveal from his tax return.
I think all Pres candidates should be required by law to release their tax returns, but I doubt most citizens pay attention, nor do I think it influences the election much, if at all.
He made lots of money and paid very little in taxes. But except,for the tax rate, not much there. Trump obviously hasn’t figured out how to hide something.
Or…he’s just waiting until he can get the most media coverage from the release.
We’ll see, won’t we.
AG
Trump is now discovering that there is such a thing as bad publicity.
We shall see. That has been being said about him for well over a year. One good definition of insanity (often misattributed to Albert Einstein) applies to the ongoing centrist/leftiness Hoo-Hah about trump’s “bad publicity.”
Welcome to the centrist/leftines nuthouse, centerfield.
We shall see if the sheer repetition of these attacks unhorses Trump. Could be. He’s not very well balanced either.
AG
You share Trump’s anxious need to constantly be on offense.
I did not initiate the confrontation; I only responded. That is called defense in my neighborhood. Truth be told, I never paid much attention to your posts until you got on my case. There are any number of other centrist/DNC types here with whom I have no real beef at all. Life’s too short.
AG