It’s a battle of the fake news giants!
CNN is calling out MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow for overhyping and then botching the so-called Trump tax scoop.
Maddow attempted to frame the tax revelation as an “exclusive scoop,” but was then scooped herself, when the White House released the information, stating Trump paid $38 million in taxes in 2005.
Whoopsie.
CNN, along with top Hillary campaign chiefs were devastated at the news and blasted Maddow for her clumsy handling of Trump’s taxes.
From CNN Money
MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow teed up a major scoop about President Donald Trump’s taxes on Tuesday night — only to end up disappointing many in the political-media establishment with a report that was widely characterized as overhyped.
The big reveal, which Maddow did not get to until after a lengthy monologue and commercial break, showed that in 2005 Trump paid $38 million in federal income taxes on a reported income of $150 million. That information was based on two pages of an IRS 1040 form supplied to journalist David Cay Johnston, who was a guest on Maddow’s show.
By the time Maddow got around to sharing that information, it had already been supplied by the White House and published on The Daily Beast, where Johnston is a columnist. Even so, the documents left the public with more questions than answers.
The decision to hype the scoop — Maddow first tweeted her all-caps “BREAKING” alert at 7:36 p.m. ET — disappointed many journalists, who felt that Maddow had undermined legitimate inquiry into Trump’s tax returns.
It also disappointed Democrats, including Hillary Clinton’s 2016 campaign press secretary Brian Fallon. Before Maddow’s broadcast, Fallon retweeted the breaking news alert and called it “the holy grail.” After Maddow showed her hand, Fallon wrote: “Dems should return focus to Trumpcare tomorrow & the millions it will leave uninsured, not get distracted by two pages from ’05 tax return.”
Ref.: http://truthfeed.com/breaking-fake-news-cnn-slams-fake-news-msnbc-for-botching-trump-tax-scoop/57398/
Does anybody really believe that a reporter, who nobody ever heard of, "went to his mailbox" and found my tax returns? @NBCNews FAKE NEWS!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 15, 2017
Rachel Maddow Releases Trump’s Tax Returns in Biggest Over-Hyped Live TV Epic Fail in History
MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow released President Trump’s 2005 tax returns in the biggest over-hyped epic fail in Television history.
Rachel Maddow Reports Donald Trump Paid Taxes
On March 14th at 8:36pm, MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow tweeted: “BREAKING: We’ve got Trump tax returns. Tonight, 9pm ET. MSNBC. (Seriously). … What we’ve got is from 2005… the President’s 1040 form… details to come tonight 9PM ET, MSNBC.”
White House Statement: “You know you are desperate for ratings when you are willing to violate the law to push a story about two pages of tax returns from over a decade ago. Before being elected President, Mr. Trump was one of the most successful businessmen in the world with a responsibility to his company, his family and his employees to pay no more tax than legally required.”
“That being said, Mr. Trump paid $38 million dollars even after taking into account large scale depreciation for construction, on an income of more than $150 million dollars, as well as paying tens of millions of dollars in other taxes such as sales and excise taxes and employment taxes and this illegally published return proves just that.”
“Despite this substantial income figure and tax paid, it is totally illegal to steal and publish tax returns. The dishonest media can continue to make this part of their agenda, while the President will focus on his, which includes tax reform that will benefit all Americans.”
