"Do as I say not as I do" - Trump Attack Obama

 

When the New York Times published its story showing that Mr Trump twice paid just $750 a year in income tax (and in several other years nothing at all), there resurfaced a message in which he scolded Mr Obama for his supposedly thin tax filings.

The revelation that Donald Trump has paid paltry sums in income tax over the past 20 years has thrown unflattering attention on the president’s past statements – in particular those directed at his immediate predecessor, Barack Obama.

 “@BarackObama who wants to raise all our taxes,” he wrote in 2012, “only pays 20.5% on $790k salary. Do as I say not as I do.”

Mr Obama’s income tax rate was somewhat low for those in his salary bracket because he and his wife donated thousands of dollars to charity.

Various other tweets of Mr Trump’s have drawn new attention since the New York Times story. High up the list is a 2012 message in which he linked to a Daily Mail story reporting that “HALF of Americans don't pay income tax despite crippling govt debt.”

Also making the rounds is a 2015 post showing the president supposedly signing that year’s return, which he then refused to make public – along with all his others – based on the false premise that he could not release returns while under audit by the IRS.

Mr Trump tweeted myriad grievances about Barack Obama during his time in office, some related to policy – especially high tax rates – but many focused on the baseless and racist theory that the president was hiding his supposed Kenyan citizenship.