Trump Boasted He Was 'Smart' Enough Not to Pay Taxes—But Netizens Gave Him a Brutal Reality Check

Back in September 2016, Donald Trump made headlines when he claimed he was clever for not paying income taxes. He argued that if he did, the money would be wasted, as per CNN. Trump's remarks came in response to Hillary Clinton's sharp criticism of the former president for deviating from the four-decade norm of presidential candidates disclosing their federal income tax returns. When Clinton mentioned that Trump had not paid any tax in years, Trump did not refute the claim. Instead, he said, "That makes me smart." As the old video resurfaced, netizens roasted the Republican front-runner once again. 

One X user ranted, "I think many MAGAs see that and say 'If he can get away with it then why not me?' He claims to be the Law & Order President but has spent most of his life finding legal loopholes & scapegoats to always get himself out of trouble. Until today. May JUSTICE prevail!" Someone else tweeted, "He's not for the people like he claims, he's only for himself and his rich buddies. These are the people that should be taxed heavily, not given tax breaks."

Then, a different X user said, "Paying taxes is one of the most patriotic things one can do. Trump is not a patriot for evading taxes," and someone else called Trump out when they tweeted, "It is smart , blame the people making the loopholes not the people using them." 

Moreover, people could not contain their disappointment, which was evident in a 2016 Reddit thread. One user shared similar sentiments, "What's funny is he was mentioning that most people don't get audited ever but he gets audited all the time like there was something wrong going on. You spend the majority of your time bragging about how much money you're making and yet you pay no federal taxes (allegedly); you're exactly who the IRS should be auditing." Another person wrote, "Rich not paying taxes: Smart. Poor not paying taxes: Moochers." 

A third user commented, "How can you complain about the deficit but support avoiding taxation?" Someone else called out the former president as well with a poignant observation: "No, Donald, it makes you unpatriotic— you don't support the country that made your wealth possible while shifting the tax burden on the members of society who can least afford it." 

Meanwhile, in a 2015 statement, Trump remarked that he, like every other taxpayer in America, strived to pay as little in taxes as possible. As reported by CBS, he said, "I fight like hell to pay as little as possible for two reasons. Number one, I'm a businessman. And that's the way you're supposed to do it. The other reason is that I hate the way our government spends our taxes. I hate the way they waste our money. Trillions and trillions of dollars of waste and abuse. And I hate it."

This article originally appeared 6 months ago.