Criticism Over Trump Tax Returns
Greg Nash
We ran the numbers: There are 2012 news articles covering this topic. 34% (681) are left leaning, 37% (740) are center, and 29% (591) are right leaning.
While Democrats quickly seized on revelations from the New York Times report showing that President Trump largely avoided paying income taxes for years, GOP lawmakers attempt to navigate the backlash. Left-leaning articles called Trump a “failed businessman” who “exploited loopholes” to avoid paying all that he owed while right-leaning articles highlight that Trump rightly took advantage of the tax code, as he created jobs.
A left leaning article from Politico argued that Trump’s ability to skirt paying federal income taxes for many years may galvanize Democratic efforts to raise taxes on the wealthy. However, instead of attacking the tax provisions that allowed Trump to pay near nothing, they plan to use Trump as an example of why Washington needs to tax the rich far more. Biden plans to raise taxes if he takes office in order to pay for programs such as student debt forgiveness and more robust childcare for low and middle income families. Trump has received fierce criticism from many politicians, both Democrat and Republican. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse remarked on the dismay of learning that Trump was both a failed businessman, and “exploited loopholes” to avoid paying all that he owed, all while living a lavish life. This points to a number of issues in the IRS enforcement and potential holes in the tax code.
The Hill published a centrist article reporting that Republicans are trying to flip the narrative and follow the White House in denying the significance of the report. Senate Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley blamed the IRS for taking a long time to complete an audit of Trump’s tax returns, while another GOP lawmaker argued there should be more outrage over how the documents were obtained.
A right-leaning article by Fox News highlights that Vice President Mike Pence made the point that President Trump and the Trump Organization likely “took advantage of all the legal deductions and exemptions that were available in the tax code.” Pence suggested that Trump was out creating jobs, while Biden was spending 47 years in Washington, D.C., helping to create a tax code.
From the left
Trump's big tax breaks could make it easier for Biden to sell tax hikes on wealthy
Politico