Yet again, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has opened his mouth and put his foot in it. But this latest gaffe, featured in a new TV ad from the campaign of his rival, Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, campaign, could be even more damaging than usual.
The ad focuses entirely on Trump’s reluctance to release his tax returns. It shows a number of prominent people lining up to ask why he hasn’t done it. We see former Governor and 2012 presidential candidate Mitt Romney saying:
“We will only really know if he’s a real deal or a phony if he releases his tax returns.”
Romney also speculates on why Trump is the only presidential candidate in decades who has failed to open his books to the public:
“Either he’s not anywhere near as wealthy as he says he is, or he hasn’t been paying the kind of taxes we would expect him to pay, or perhaps he hasn’t been giving money to the vets or to the disabled like he’s been telling us.”
Then comes the kicker. Trump is shown in past interviews, decisively saying:
“You know, if you’re running … you’re going to have to show your returns.”
He then goes one better by telling another interviewer:
“If you didn’t see the tax returns you would almost think, like, there’s something wrong. What’s wrong?”
In a companion commercial, he is seen in an older clip, declaring:
“If I decide to run for office I’ll produce my tax returns, absolutely.”
Despite the precedents and widespread demands for Trump to come clean, presidential candidates are under no legal obligation to make their tax returns public. The closest thing he has to an excuse is his assertion, made back in March, that he won’t release them until a current IRS audit is completed.
Perhaps conveniently, this completion is not expected until after election day.
Nevertheless, it’s fascinating to speculate on what exactly he doesn’t want us to know. One letter to the New York Times makes this valid observation:
“Apparently Mr. Trump has been advised that while stonewalling carries risk, releasing the returns would doom the campaign by destroying his claims to success and generosity. Apart from its probable effect on the election, he also has to know that damage to his businesses might last for years.”
Another correspondent discusses the three reasons for secrecy that Mitt Romney and the TV commercial focus on, but adds:
“A fourth reason seems most likely to me: Mr. Trump paid no federal taxes in 2015 because his losses exceeded his taxable income.
If that’s the case, the resulting political ads from the Democrats would be devastating to Mr. Trump’s image among his supporters and, more important from Mr. Trump’s perspective, personally intolerable, given his fragile self-image.
In reality TV lingo, Mr. Trump would be portrayed as ‘the biggest loser.’ ”
Watch the Clinton commercial here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FREmMjcg0P0
Featured image: Screenshot Via YouTube Video.
