New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said the report of Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump taking a loss of nearly $1 billion in 1995, which could have allowed him to not pay taxes for almost two decades, is a good story.
Speaking on Fox News Sunday, Christie said it’s proof of Trump’s comeback as a businessman and figure in American life.
“This is a guy who, when a lot of businesses went out of business in the 1990s, he fought back and clawed back to create tens of thousands more jobs,” Christie said. “This is actually a good story for Donald Trump.”
The Times reported on a small part of Trump’s 1995 tax returns late Saturday evening that showed the real estate mogul took a $916 million loss. That huge loss allowed him to possibly not pay federal income taxes for 18 years.
Christie said the report did not say Trump did anything illegally and it did not even offer proof that Trump didn’t pay federal income tax following 1995.
Instead, Trump promises to reform the tax laws to work better for Americans, against his own self-interest, Christie said.
“The genius of Donald Trump is that he follows the law … and that, politically, he says he’s going to change these laws and there’s no one better to change these laws than someone who’s been audited year after year,” Christie said.
