Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign has unveiled a new ad questioning what Donald Trump might be hiding in the tax returns that he has refused to make public.
The ad showed a clip of Trump on Irish television in 2014 claiming he would produce his tax returns if he ever decided to run for office, before telling ABC this year that his tax rate is “none of your business.”
The 30-second advertisement also included conservative columnist George Will and 2012 GOP nominee Mitt Romney speculating about Trump’s tax returns. The ad showed Will saying Trump may be hiding his ties to Russian oligarchs, while Romney is heard questioning the 2016 GOP nominee’s wealth.
“Donald Trump. He’s hiding something,” reads text on the screen at the end of the ad.
Trump’s running mate, Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, said late last week he would release his own tax returns, even as Trump would not.
Asked recently why Trump would not release his tax returns and whether he was hiding something by Fox News, Trump spokeswoman Katrina Pierson called the release of tax returns a “novelty” in presidential campaigns. After being told that presidential candidates releasing tax returns is a tradition that dates back to the 1970s, Pierson countered that it’s a “novelty tradition.”
“Donald Trump has said consistently that the reason why he won’t release his tax returns while he’s under audit wasn’t because of some law, it was simply because his lawyers advised him not to,” Pierson said. “I think it’s also safe to say that Gov. Pence’s tax returns aren’t as complicated as one of Mr. Trump’s.”
Clinton’s ad about Trump’s tax returns will air on the campaign’s existing national ad buy.
