On Tuesday night, the New York Times published a bombshell story concerning Donald Trump’s tax returns. From 1985-1994, the president reportedly lost $1.2 billion and avoided paying any kind of income tax.
Fox News hosts, Martha MacCallum, and Ed Henry were caught flatfooted as the news arrived mid-segment. Fox guest, Marc Thiessen, from the Washington Post, quickly tried to spin the news story as being favorable to the president.
Thiessen claimed, “I always thought that the reason why Donald Trump doesn’t want his taxes released is nothing to do with any corruption or illegality. It’s because they are going to show he is not as rich as he says he is. Because when you do your taxes, your incentive is to minimize your income as much as possible to pay the least amount of taxes.”
The Washington Post writer continued, “So Donald Trump has the best accountants in the world they are going to minimize his income. He’s trying to organize his finances in a way that lowers his taxes.”
Host Ed Henry insinuated that while it’s now Trump’s time in the wringer, Democrats will also face inspection. “Now Joe Biden and the Democrats, maybe they’re going to be under scrutiny as well,” the host said.
The White House has denied the paper’s claims. Trump’s lawyer, Charles J. Harder called the claims, “demonstrably false.” He continued, “I.R.S. transcripts, particularly before the days of electronic filing, are notoriously inaccurate. They would not be able to provide a reasonable picture of any taxpayer’s return.”