Fox News Sunday host Chris Wallace was stunned as Trump supporter Gov. Chris Christie said that an explosive NY Times story which alleges Donald Trump may not have paid federal taxes for 18 years because he lost a billion dollars in 1995 is good for him.
Chris Wallace began the segment by asking about the NY times story and asked, "Let's start with this new report that trump had a billion-dollar loss in 1995 that could have meant he paid no federal income taxes for years, maybe as much as 18 years. What does that say about him as a businessman, and what does that say about him failing to pitch in like the rest of us to pay for our military and our roads and other services?"
Gov. Christie responded by attacking the tax codes and called Trump a genius for manipulating the system for his benefit.
The governor then went off on a tangent about what a great business man Trump is he didn't do anything illegal and surprisingly said, "This is actually a very, very good story for Donald Trump."
Chris Wallace was stunned and replied, "Wait. You're saying it's a good story for Donald Trump that he failed to pay any federal income taxes -- first of all, that he took a billion-dollar loss, and that he failed to pay any federal income taxes for years. that's a good story?"
After Christie intimated that Trump has paid millions in taxes, he then scolded Wallace!
He said, "You can't come on TV this morning and say that Donald Trump did not pay taxes for years and years when that's not what the story says."
By carrying over losses, a person or business does not pay taxes for each year that it applies. An accountant would be fired if they didn't do that. And Trump is not an altruistic person to say the least.
Wallace responded by saying, "Well, in fact, the Trump campaign issued a statement last night that was a classic non-denial denial. Here's what he put up. He has, Trump has, a "fiduciary responsibility to pay no more tax than legally required.
Wallace continued, "It’s in effect what he said in the first debate, if he paid no taxes, that makes him smart. I mean, I assume that if he had paid lots of taxes over those years, he'd have told us so."
Christie responded, "Well, that's a big assumption on your part."
No it's not, Governor. Wallace and the the country knows Trump brags about predicting when the sun will rise in the morning.
And then Gov. Christie told us the biggest whopper of the segment when he said, "...if you're talking about a tax return from 1995 and all of you in the media have been saying, why don't you release the tax returns that aren't under audit? Well, they're all connected, because of the byzantine tax laws."
Stop lying, Governor. This is another false narrative the Trump camp is trying to spread.
Wallace didn't relent to Christie's attempt to brow beat him and said, "So, just to sum this up, -- as a top Trump adviser, as the head of his presidential transition team, your reaction to the story in "The Times" today is no apologies?
Christie's response was classic, "Oh, for gosh sakes."
Right back at you, Chris.
First off, Donald Trump isn't a tax genius, he has accountants to handle those matters and if his company suffered a loss, they get to write it off.
Of course Trump took the loss as long as possible. Who wouldn't?
And no one is saying Trump did anything illegal, but his tax returns will show what he makes, how much he has, and who and where his business interests are.
The American people have a right to know how his businesses are connected around the world. But since Donald Trump refuses to release his tax returns like every presidential candidate has done for forty years every bit of information that is sourced is much needed.
Chris Christie should be worried about getting caught up in his alleged role in the Bridgegate scandal instead of making a fool of himself defending Trump for refusing to release his tax returns.
