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September 28, 2020 – 11:50 pm
AFP
The president of the United States, Donald Trump, battled this Monday against the revelation of The New York Times newspaper about his fiscal situation on the eve of the first debate of the presidential campaign with his Democratic rival, Joe Biden, in which the president must prevail if you want to regain ground in the polls.
The newspaper’s exclusive, which revealed that Trump paid only $ 750 in taxes in 2016 and 2017, and nothing in 10 of the previous 15 years, was a blow to the jugular of his millionaire image with 36 days remaining until the election.
The president had refused to release his tax information, contrary to the tradition of all his predecessors since the 1970s.
In addition to the questions about the taxation of his companies, the article highlighted that the president’s businesses have large debts, which weighs down the image of Trump as a successful businessman.
This article strikes a chord for Trump, calling into question his “instinct” for business, something he boasts of in his campaign.
Also read: The books that have put Donald Trump in trouble
“His finances are under pressure, with operational losses and hundreds of millions of dollars in debt that must be paid and for which he is the personal guarantor,” reported The New York Times.
On Twitter Trump denounced the post as “false” with “totally fabricated” claims. He also affirmed that he has few debts in relation to the value of the assets he owns and reiterated his refusal to publish the figures.
Biden retains lead in polls
His son Donald Jr. said Monday on the conservative Fox News network that his father paid tens of millions of dollars in local taxes, although the article focused on federal rates.
Although the impact on voters is uncertain, the Times article offers plenty of ammunition for Biden, who is already entering Tuesday’s debate in Cleveland with a steady lead in voting intent heading into the Nov. 3 election.
According to the latest Washington Post-ABC poll, former Vice President Barack Obama has a ten-point advantage at the national level (53% versus 43%), a percentage that has remained unchanged since August, before the conventions of the parties.
In the key states to reach the White House, the advantage is smaller, but the Democratic standard-bearer is well positioned, especially in Wisconsin, where Trump prevailed in 2016.
If Trump loses on November 3, he would become the first president to serve a single term in the United States since Republican George HW Bush, who lost to Bill Clinton in 1992.
Besieged by the health crisis and the economic consequences of the covid-19 pandemic, the president has recently kept a low profile on the issue, even after more than 200,000 deaths were confirmed in the United States, the country most mourned by the disease .
But on Monday he tried to back up his position that his government has responded effectively to the pandemic by announcing the distribution in the United States of 150 million rapid tests that can deliver results in 15 minutes.
An anti-doping test
The president focuses his message on criticizing his opponent, sparing no insults.
During the weekend, he frequently quipped about Biden’s physical and mental condition and asked for a doping control.
The democrat refused and on Monday his team responded with irony to the proposal.
“If the president thinks the best way to prove he’s right is by urine, we let him,” said Biden’s campaign manager Kate Bedingfield.
This strategy has nothing new. Four years ago Trump made the same request before the debate with Hillary Clinton.
In this context, the moderator of the debate, the journalist of the conservative chain Fox News Chris Wallace, hopes to let the candidates debate among themselves on the key questions for 90 minutes and affirmed that he hopes to be as “invisible as possible”.
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