Anthony Scaramucci, a former Communications Director under President Donald Trump, says he is not surprised by a series of allegations regarding the president’s taxes that were detailed in a new report by The New York Times.
“I am surprised by the magnitude of it. Yes, I have to confess that,” Scaramucci told CNN’s Brianna Keiler on Monday. “Just when we think it can’t get any worse, he moves the goalposts again, and he makes it way worse.”
“I’m not surprised that he maneuvered with the taxes, Secretary [Hillary Clinton] went after him four years for that. He called himself smart for doing it,” he added.
He noted that Trump has claimed the report is fake, however, he argued that unless the president releases his tax returns, he will be unable to refute the allegations in the story.
When it comes to Trump’s supporters, Scarammucci said he doubts the Times’ story will hurt his support among his base of supporters. However, he predicted that the report could hurt his chances of winning over independent voters in swing states that could decide the election.
Watch the video below:
“What this does is it calcifies the negativity around him." Former White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci reacts to the NYT report on President Trump's taxes, which reveals massive debts and years of tax avoidance. https://t.co/ahXBBodEjf pic.twitter.com/IievOnyTB4
— CNN Newsroom (@CNNnewsroom) September 28, 2020
Scaramucci was also asked about a portion of the Times’ report that said Trump wrote off $70,000 for hairstyling before he won the presidency.
“Well, I think it’s funny because we all know, anybody close to him, knows that he does the hair himself. You know, he basically looks like Darth Vader after the helmet comes off if he’s not doing hair,” he said.
He claimed that Trump styles his hair himself to ensure that there are no pictures of the process, and added, “I guess he paid himself $70,000. It would be interesting to see who the hairstylist was that he gave that quote-unquote money to.”
The Times reported on Sunday that Trump paid $750 in income taxes in 2016 and 2017 and avoided paying income tax for 10 out of 15 years as he cited massive business losses.
Additionally, the Times says the president has hundreds of millions of loans.
Trump has since called the story “fake news.”
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said the president’s reported debt could pose a national security threat to the country, “We take an oath to protect and defend. This president is the commander-in-chief. He has exposure to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars, to whom? The public has the right to know.”
“The fact is over $400 million in leverage that somebody has over the president of the United States,” she added
