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Louis Staples
Jul 10, 2020
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Often during the Trump presidency we've been forced to imagine a universe in which Obama, or any other president, behaved in a similar way.
And this is exactly how a lot of people are feeling afterthe Supreme Court ruled that New York prosecutors can indeed force him to release his financial records, which he's somehow managed to keep secret.
It's part of a long-running bid to get hold of Trump's tax returns. Typically all presidential candidates would release them for public scrutiny – Trump is the first president since Richard Nixon to not do so.
However, the Supreme Court didn't authorise Congress to have automatic access to the records, and pushed the case back down to lower courts, making it unlikely that his financial records would see the light of day before the November election.
What's Trump saying about it?
While the rulings could have gone a lot worse for the president, it seems he's still furious, and fired off a series of tweets expressing his anger, referring to the case as a "political prosecution" and a "witch hunt". He added the very presidential sounding comment of "not fair!
What are other people saying?
Of course Trump has a lot of defenders, as we know by now there's nothing his most loyal supporters won't excuse or rationalise.
But lots and lots of people are mocking Trump for this latest setback. Could the chickens finally be coming home to roost?
There was a fair bit of gloating at this ruling...
A major win. No one should be above the law—including the president of the United States. https://t.co/qXoLMGzrop— Kamala Harris (@Kamala Harris) 1594305071
The Supreme Court reaffirmed today what everyone but Donald Trump already knew: nobody is above the law – not even… https://t.co/jgZbzD3AEG— Elizabeth Warren (@Elizabeth Warren) 1594308926
@realDonaldTrump Your presidency is https://t.co/2zoGwJJuDN— The Lincoln Project (@The Lincoln Project) 1594305586
@realDonaldTrump It was a 7-2 decision, including Conservative Justices you chose. It's almost as if they know you… https://t.co/983ttsYJwh— Nick Jack Pappas (@Nick Jack Pappas) 1594305818
@realDonaldTrump Justices GORSUCH & KAVANAUGH also believe that you are NOT ABOVE THE LAW— The Resistor Sister®️♥️🇺🇸🦅🙏🏻 (@The Resistor Sister®️♥️🇺🇸🦅🙏🏻) 1594305643
@realDonaldTrump You lose. That’s what happened.— Scott Dworkin (@Scott Dworkin) 1594305791
@charliekirk11 Hi sweetie. The Clintons and Obamas released their years of tax returns. Trump did not. Also: Billio… https://t.co/YFvqAQ9Hae— Kyle Griffin (@Kyle Griffin) 1594356647
Lots of people think that the fact Trump doesn't want the tax returns released is very telling...
@realDonaldTrump Truth is, even though we won in the NY case, we really don’t need the courts to know what’s in you… https://t.co/GPWF17p2oq— Andy Ostroy (@Andy Ostroy) 1594305850
@realDonaldTrump We will soon know what you are trying so hard to hide.— Mia Farrow (@Mia Farrow) 1594307655
The American people deserve to know what Donald Trump is hiding in his tax returns.— Joe Biden (@Joe Biden) 1594340820
@thehill If we don't do testing, there is no pandemic. If we don't look at my taxes, I didn't launder Russian money.— Dan (@Dan) 1594343359
Why do the MAGAs think Trump has gone all the way to SCOTUS to hide his tax returns after promising to release them… https://t.co/PtM2TUG5fy— Khashoggi’s Ghost (@Khashoggi’s Ghost) 1594350312
@HillaryClinton Meanwhile, Joe Biden's tax returns are posted on his website. No litigation needed.— toddicus 🇺🇸🏳️🌈 (@toddicus 🇺🇸🏳️🌈) 1594313489
Others rubbished the idea that most Americans "don't care" about Trump's tax returns.
@thehill Most Americans didn’t care about Obama’s birth certificate, but he had to produce it anyway.— Doug Higgins (@Doug Higgins) 1594343906
@thehill I care.... I really really really care...really.— Elissa Greene : justice for the traitors (@Elissa Greene : justice for the traitors) 1594348503
@thehill I would like to say, I, my girlfriend, my daughter, her husband, his mom and dad all would indeed like to… https://t.co/pdIe4GrGkW— William Buecker (@William Buecker) 1594345117
Hillary Clinton wasn't so happy about the ruling, however...
On Trump’s taxes, the DA won but Congress lost (for now), which makes no sense. Congress sought information on mone… https://t.co/GYjuIaZYht— Hillary Clinton (@Hillary Clinton) 1594313440
And others agreed...
@HillaryClinton Amen.— Charlotte Clymer 🏳️🌈 (@Charlotte Clymer 🏳️🌈) 1594313455
So it's clear that this matter is far from over. And even if Trump's tax returns are released, his supporters likely won't care about whatever is in there.
Still, he seems very, very keen to keep it hidden. So whatever it is, it's probably not good for him.
The saga continues...