As we reported earlier today, The New York Times thinks it has published a bombshell about President Trump’s finances. Financial documents dating from the period between 1985 and 1994 show, the newspaper says, that he lost over $1 billion in those ten years. In other words, although he pretends to be a successful businessman, he’s actually a big LOSER (yes, in all capitals).
It’s a ridiculous attack, not in the least because a) The Times conveniently forgets to mention that the entire New York real estate market was suffering from a crash back then, and b) because real estate moguls like Trump purposefully used loopholes in order to pay as little income taxes as possible.
The above is why no reasonable person is impressed by the supposed “bombshell.” Sadly, CNN’s Don Lemon is anything but reasonable (or, quite honestly, even just sane). See here a clip from the latest episode of his show:
“The president of the United States is a fraud and a con man,” Lemon opined (in an extremely slow cadence that reminds one of one’s nearly blind grandfather trying to read a book). “And the fraud and the con is on us, the American people. Now we know why the president wants his tax returns hidden, and it’s not because he’s under audit. Audit, schmaudit. Turns out Donald Trump is our conman-in-chief, and his biggest con was pulling the wool right over your eyes, convincing voters that he would be the best dealmaker ever in the White House.”
Lemon continued to call the “breaking” news “stunning… except for maybe the people who knew him.” He concludes that Trump was a “really lousy businessman.” In fact, “the worst businessman in the country.” This because he “lost” a quarter of a billion dollars a year in some years, which is “double the losses” of the nearest taxpayers in IRS records. Or something.
Of course, like the Times‘ report, Lemon conveniently forgets to mention that Trump’s losses were mostly due to an epic real estate market crash.
Oh, and there’s another point. As Piers Morgan points out, Trump’s financial difficulties back in the day may actually be a reason for people to respect him more, not less. After all, he overcame those hard times to a) end up richer than before and b) to become president of the United States of America, the single most powerful country on earth.
So Donald Trump bounced back from the financial abyss to become President of the United States? And this is supposed to be a stick to beat him with?
I would imagine most Americans will find his resilience under huge pressure, & refusal to throw in the towel, very admirable.— Piers Morgan (@piersmorgan) May 8, 2019
What’s more, although The Times and CNN’s Lemon act as if Trump made a secret of these financial issues all these years, Morgan points out that Trump actually told him all about it back in 2008:
Trump told me for @BritishGQ in 2008 that he owed 'billions & billions of dollars' in the early '90s. He's never made any secret of it. Now he's a billionaire & President.. greatest comeback since Liverpool. https://t.co/jX9vgvgP3g https://t.co/fciu4LKBBi
— Piers Morgan (@piersmorgan) May 8, 2019
But, according to Lemon, Trump’s a “con man” and a “fraud,” who has actively and purposefully deceived Americans about his business acumen.
As usual nowadays, statements from CNN hosts tell us more about them, their biases, and their unhealthy obsessions, than about the president.
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