Donald Trump is earning some mockery online after a bombshell report about his taxes claimed that he took a massive deduction in order to look good on television.
The New York Times published a story on Sunday citing decades of tax documents that showed he claimed huge losses and did not pay any federal income tax for 10 of the 15 years leading up to his election in 2016. The report included a number of other details about the real estate mogul and reality television star’s finances, including the tens of thousands of dollars he reportedly spent on his hair.
“Even while declaring losses, he has managed to enjoy a lavish lifestyle by taking tax deductions on what most people would consider personal expenses, including residences, aircraft and $70,000 in hairstyling for television,” the outlet noted.
The hairdressing claims went a bit deeper, as New York Times correspondent Peter Baker noted on Twitter .
“Trump wrote off the cost of haircuts, including more than $70,000 paid to style his hair during The Apprentice ,” he noted. “Together, nine Trump entities have written off at least $95,464 paid to a favorite hair and makeup artist of Ivanka Trump.”
Included among the larger and potentially damaging story, the tidbit about his hairdressing habits drew particular interest among his critics. Many took to Twitter to mock Trump for the claims.
Donald Trump wrote off $70,000 on his taxes FOR HAIR STYLING
— Judd Legum (@JuddLegum) September 27, 2020
TRUMP SUPPORTERS: “I just want a manly, robust alpha-male silverback gorilla who reeks of pure testosterone and spends $72,000 for hair styling.”
— Rick Wilson (@TheRickWilson) September 27, 2020
Others pointed out that allegations of such high expenses would have been a major controversy for any of the president’s predecessors, yet did not seem to have the same impact for the scandal-prone president.
Trump has deducted $70,000 n hair styling expenses
when Bill Clinton allegedly got a $300 haircut it was a 5-day news story
— Eric Boehlert (@EricBoehlert) September 28, 2020
Trump’s personal grooming has been a major point of contention for critics, who have often mocked him for his public appearance. His famously orange skin tone even earned a full write-up from Vanity Fair , which reported last year that he does all of his own makeup.
The president’s taxes have been another point of contention, dating back to the 2016 race when he broke recent precedent by refusing to release his returns. This led to allegations that he may be hiding some unsavory aspects of his finances or trying to conceal that he was not as rich as he claimed to be.
Trump said that he wanted to release the returns and planned to do so in the future, but could not because he was undergoing an audit from the Internal Revenue Service.
As The Inquisitr reported, the Trump campaign blasted the New York Times , claiming that the allegations were made up.