The New York Times says Donald Trump is making “stupid excuses” for keeping his tax returns private.
“Mr. Trump has offered nothing but fallacious excuses for keeping his returns secret,” the newspaper’s editorial board wrote Wednesday.
{mosads}“It is odd that Mr. Trump, who demanded proof on paper that President Obama was born in the United States, would expect voters to take on faith his own claims about his commercial success, his dealings with business partners, what he gives to charity and other financial matters that could conflict with his duties if elected president.”
The editorial board said Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, has the only documents that could “conclusively corroborate or disprove his claims,” and that his hesitancy undermines his credibility.
“According to him, he alone has the negotiating chops necessary to boost the economy and bring foreign adversaries to their knees,” it said. “Yet, he refuses to tell voters how he comes by his money, how much he actually has and what he does with it.
“Mr. Trump says he wants to fix a ‘rigged’ political system controlled by a powerful elite. But by refusing to subject himself to the most basic level of financial scrutiny, he is disqualifying himself as a candidate.”
Trump has insisted he can’t publicly release his tax returns until the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) completes an audit.
The IRS has countered by saying there is no rule preventing him from releasing his documents while under audit.
Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton and other top Democrats have frequently argued Trump is hiding his financial history from voters.