In his first press conference since last summer, president-elect Donald Trump said he would not release his tax returns and that Americans weren’t interested anyway.
TRUMP: I’m not releasing the tax returns because as you know, they’re under audit….You know, the only one that cares about my tax returns are the reporters, OK? They’re the only who ask.
This is certainly not the first time that Trump has misspoken. Nor is it the first time his campaign has claimed that only reporters care.
“This is an issue the media is interested in. This isn’t an issue that middle America is interested in,” Trump aide Paul Manafort said on CNN’s “State of the Union” earlier this month (May 2016).
Not only is Trump is the first modern presidential candidate to refuse to disclose, a majority of all Americans still want to see his tax returns. Since early last year, Americans have consistently told pollsters (when asked) that they wanted to see his returns.
- 60% of the American public says Trump has a “responsibility” to release his tax returns, Pew Research, January 10, 2017
- 74% of American registered voters think Trump should release his tax returns, Quinnipiac Poll, August 25, 2016
- 67% of American registered voters think presidential candidates should release their tax returns, Morning Consult, May 24, 2016
Trump has been on the record from 2014 that he would disclose his tax returns. Plus, he thought Mitt Romney should do it in 2012.
See how his slow-motion reversal came to be.
Known for gnawing at complex questions like a terrier with a bone. Digital evangelist, writer, teacher. Transplanted Southerner; teach newbies to ride motorcycles. @kegill (Twitter and Mastodon.social); wiredpen.com