New Biden campaign ad jabs at Trump’s reported $750 income tax payments

A new ad from Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden’s campaign targets President Trump over details about his tax payments reported by The New York Times on Sunday.

The ad, released on Twitter by the Biden campaign late Sunday evening just hours after the Times’s bombshell report was published, features the faces of a number of U.S. taxpayers and their corresponding tax burdens, before comparing their payments to the $750 reportedly paid by Trump during his first year in office. It features no narration.

Teachers paid $7,239
Firefighters paid $5,283
Nurses paid $10,216

Donald Trump paid $750 pic.twitter.com/5YE1cbYsBN

— Team Joe (Text JOE to 30330) (@TeamJoe) September 28, 2020

The ad is the Biden campaign’s first official comment on the story reported Sunday by the Times, which detailed the numerous financial loopholes pursued by the president to reduce his tax burden, including writing off some expenses such as his own hairstyling costs as business-related.

The president and the Trump Organization have both fiercely denied the story, which comes shortly before Trump and Biden’s first debate on Tuesday. At a press conference Sunday, Trump said the story was “totally fake news.”

Other Democrats were quick to shred Trump on Twitter over the story, calling his low reported tax rate and years of paying no taxes at all a disgrace to working families.

“Donald Trump paid just $750 in income taxes in 2016 and 2017. He knows better than anyone that there’s one set of rules for the wealthy and giant corporations and another for hardworking Americans—and instead of using his power to fix it, he’s taken advantage of it at every turn,” tweeted Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.).

“Shock of shocks! Donald Trump, the self-proclaimed billionaire, received a $72.9 million tax refund from the IRS while not paying a nickel in federal income taxes in 10 out of 15 years,” added Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.). “Yep. Trump l-o-v-e-s corporate socialism for himself, rugged capitalism for everyone else.”