Fox & Friends Does Cleanup Duty Over Trump’s Tax Return Revelations

In the wake of a bombshell New York Times story showing that Donald Trump may well have avoided paying any taxes for the last 20 years, Fox & Friends got to work on his behalf this morning.

Cohost Abby Huntsman, in line for a permanent cohost spot, must have earned some brownie points with her spin. She managed to both claim that the article won’t matter to voters and praise Trump for paying nothing, all in one comment:

HUNTSMAN: You kind of have to wonder, do the voters that matter right now in these swing states, these voters that haven’t really made up their minds yet that are going to impact who ends up winning in November. Do they actually care about this headline?

[…] I think a lot of people see [Trump] as someone, if they were to be successful and make it in life and make a lot of money, that Donald Trump is living a life that they would say, you know what? I would probably get a plane, I would probably try to pay less taxes if I could. And I think Donald Trump has been pretty transparent about that, not trying to hide who he is, which is pretty different than what we saw with Mitt Romney, who was really trying to be someone that he wasn’t. But the bigger question is do people even care at all?

You may recall that Huntsman also recently called Fox News "a great place for women."

Cohost Ed Henry got in a plug for Trump. Henry recently returned from a disgraced leave, supposedly barred from political reporting. But, apparently, nobody is barred from spinning... on behalf of Republicans.

HENRY: Right, and as the Times itself is saying, if these are his tax returns – if - he followed the law. He didn’t break the law by claiming these losses.

[…] So, he also said, his statement, look, his campaign said, “Look, he wants to fix the tax laws. If you think rich people should be paying more, let’s figure out the whole system.”

Huntsman also suggested that the Times was being unpatriotic by doing its job of reporting (as if Huntsman and her colleagues would not feel the story was vitally important had it been Hillary Clinton's taxes).

HUNTSMAN: But to your point, this is exactly why we don’t have other good people that want to run for office because everything is so public. You can’t get away with anything in life.

(Transcript via Media Matters, with some light edits)

Watch the Fox News propaganda below, from the October 2, 2016 Fox & Friends, via Media Matters.

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Showing 12 reactions

commented 2016-10-04 01:03:07 -0400 · Flag

There may yet be a lot of good come out of Trump’s exposure and inevitable implosion. The great unwashed will undoubtedly find out a helluva lot about the thousands of ways they are being shafted by the rich and powerful who have rigged the system to the utmost in their own favour.

I hate to agree with any of the R-Souls, but Rick Perry in the last election said he would rewrite the tax code so it could fit on the back of an envelope. Without even putting in more reasonable brackets, can you imagine how much that would change the landscape?

commented 2016-10-03 17:50:28 -0400 · Flag

The real credit goes to his tax attorneys and the lobbyist who wrote this loophole. You know the middle class and poor didn’t demand this law be passed.

A genius? Um, no. That’s spin and you know that. If this was truly a stroke of genius he would have been bragging about this long ago. Believe me, believe me.

The New York Times is protected by the First Amendment, so the question is, who leaked this? Somebody call G Gordon Liddy and his plumbers. If you don’t know, Liddy and his plumbers were the ones who broke into the Watergate Hotel. They were called plumbers because their job was to stop leaks for Nixon.

commented 2016-10-03 07:26:09 -0400 · Flag

Romney’s 47% number needs to be amended — the real Takers are now 47% + Donald Trump.

Right, Ghouliani? Or are you still trying to “Make Mexico Great Again Too…”

commented 2016-10-03 07:22:37 -0400 · Flag

Hillary should use some hard facts — like if tRump had paid taxes for the last 20 years the money coould have gone to paying for over 20,000 pieces of soldiers’ body armor, armored Humvees, 18,000 new bridges and highways in the federal infrastructure, increased security meaures on our nation’s trains, et al (With real numbers, of course).

tRump is a hero of the $30k/yr truck driver paying 20% of his salary to taxes, yet “Mr. $700 million” last year pays $0 — and the rubes think he is smart.

Krueger-Dunning Effect on full display…

commented 2016-10-03 00:45:15 -0400 · Flag

NN and Go, music to my ears.GO, yeah the mere hint that a penny of government welfare has been mispent and republican charrity shrinks like a spider on a hot stove.

NN, even lying American soldiers into a needless war is not enough to warrant a cross republican word.

commented 2016-10-02 23:35:31 -0400 · Flag

Conservatives continually piss themselves over the idea of a single mother on food stamps buying their child a candy bar, but sing the praises of a multi-billionaire (supposedly) not paying any taxes, and supporting the country he benefits from enormously.

commented 2016-10-02 23:08:31 -0400 · Flag

Wouldn’t some of these horrendous business dealings of Trump, breaking the embargo with Cuba, not licensing a charity, etc. etc., disqualify him from running for the presidency. Could, as he says, commit murder, and still run and people would support him??

commented 2016-10-02 22:33:45 -0400 · Flag

PS. If this plays out like I think, that trip to the Bahamas after the election may be more like the Gypsy staying one step ahead of the sheriff.

commented 2016-10-02 22:19:41 -0400 · Flag

I told you. I told you. Trump is a con man and not nearly as rich as everyone thinks. He has manipulated the tax system and screwed people he owes money to. This may be the most important job has had in a long time. Running for President. And collecting campaign contributions along the way. And spend none of the Trump money on campaign commercials. Let the PAC money spend on advertising. After Hillary wins in November, take the Trump clan on a vacation to the Bahamas or somewhere suitable. Put those campaign contributions in the bank.

Perfect Con on the least sympathetic rubes.

commented 2016-10-02 21:49:58 -0400 · Flag

It’s too bad the Soviet socialists so badly abused, and thereby tainted, the term “social parasite”, because the term in its valid sense fits Trump to a T. Speaking of socialism, the tax code loopholes exploited by Trump are themselves socialist in the sense that they distort the workings of what is supposed to be a free, capitalist real estate market. It amounts to state-provided benefits—socialism, if you will—for the rich.

commented 2016-10-02 21:05:37 -0400 · Flag

Strange — any other year, we’d refer to someone who

- declared multiple bankruptcies
- repeatedly stiffed people he owed
- avoided paying taxes for twenty years
- and reportedly lost $916 million in one year

as a crook and a cheat.

Not in 2016. In 2016, we call them a “smart businessman” and a “presidential candidate” . . .

.

commented 2016-10-02 16:33:15 -0400 · Flag

Republicans like to complain about takers, those who contribute nothing and take from taxpayers. Yet GOP states and cities are usually takers, taking more than they send in taxes and now their candidate is a taker. A man who has his hand out for tax money while contributing nothing to the good of the country.