Donald Trump lashed out against the media Wednesday evening to correct reports following Monday’s debate that the billionaire businessman admitted he does not pay federal taxes.
The Republican nominee told Fox News’ Bill O’Reilly he could easily defend his statements if rival Hillary Clinton brought them up in the next debate because the record will show his response was misconstrued by the press.
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“First of all, I never said I didn’t pay taxes. She said ‘maybe you didn’t pay taxes.’ I said ‘well, that would make me smart,'” Trump said in an interview on “O’Reilly Factor.” “I have to tell you something, tax is a big expense. I wouldn’t mind paying taxes a lot less if our politicians knew how to spend the money but they don’t.”
During the debate, Clinton suggested that Trump’s refusal to release his tax returns means he is hiding something.
“Or maybe he doesn’t want the American people, all of you watching tonight, to know that he’s paid nothing in federal taxes, because the only years that anybody’s ever seen were a couple of years when he had to turn them over to state authorities when he was trying to get a casino license, and they showed he didn’t pay any federal income tax,” Clinton added.
Trump’s reply: “That makes me smart.”
Trump has said he won’t release his tax returns while he is being audited.
Trump and Clinton are set to debate again Sunday, Oct. 9. The Sept. 26 debate had 84 million viewers, the highest-ever.
