Kamala Harris tore into Donald Trump 's reported federal tax payments during her debate with Vice President Mike Pence Wednesda...
Kamala Harris tore into Donald Trump's reported federal tax payments during her debate with Vice President Mike Pence Wednesday, claiming it's important to find out to whom the president owes money.
'Joe Biden has been incredibly transparent, and certainly by contrast, the president has not appeared both in terms of health records, but also let's look at taxes,' the Democratic vice presidential candidate said as she segued the conversation from coronavirus to the president's taxes.
'We now know because of great investigative journalism that Donald Trump paid $750 in taxes,' Harris continued during the only vice presidential debate Wednesday evening in Utah. 'When I first heard about it, I literally said, you mean $750,000? And it was like no, $750.'
Pence stood up for his boss, claiming the president has paid millions in taxes and shifted the discussion to the economy in general – praising Trump for creating jobs both before being elected president when he was a businessman and after.
'The American people, who have a president who is a businessman, job creator, who has paid tens of millions of dollars in taxes. Payroll taxes, property taxes,' the vice president said. 'He's created tens of thousands of American jobs.'
Kamala Harris railed against Donald Trump during Wednesday's vice presidential debate in Utah, claiming when she first heard the report claiming he only paid $750 she thought the they meant to say $750,000
Vice President Mike Pence defended the president, claiming he has paid tens of millions in taxes
Harris, referring to Trump's millions in debt, said the American people deserve to know to whom the president owes money
He continued: 'The president said those public reports are not accurate, and the president has also released literally stacks of financial disclosures the American people can review, just as the law allows.'
'When President Trump and I took office, America had gone to the slowest economic recovery since the great depression. They tried to tax our way to a growing economy,' Pence said.
Trump's tax returns – and specifically how much he pays to the Internal Revenue Service – has been the subject of much criticism as the president has refused to make the documents public since campaigning in 2015, even though the good faith practice has become customary for presidential candidates.
The New York Times revealed just days before the first presidential debate last week that sources provided documents that show the president paid only $750 in federal taxes two years in a row.
During the debate in Cleveland, Ohio against Democratic nominee Joe Biden, Trump insisted he paid millions in taxes – but did not clarify anything about the allotment for federal taxes.
He said he would release the returns when an audit is completed.
'We now know Donald Trump owes and is in debt for $400 million,' Harris said as she railed against the president. 'And just so everyone is clear, when we say in debt, it means you owe money to somebody. And it would be really good to know who the president of the United States, the commander in chief owes money to, because the American people have a right to know what is influencing the president's decisions.'
The California senator, who was critical of Biden as she ran against him in the Democratic primary election, defended her now-running mate.
'The one thing we all know about Joe, he puts it all out there,' she lauded. 'He is honest, he is forthright. But Donald Trump on the other hand, has been about covering up everything.'
Harris and Pence participated in the first and only vice presidential debate at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City on Wednesday evening – the only western-located debate of this presidential cycle.
Susan Page of USA Today moderated the debate.
Pence took his time talking about taxes to bash Biden and Harris for wanting to raise taxes on Americans.
'America, you just heard Senator Harris tell you, on day one, Joe Biden is going to raise your taxes,' the vice president, and former Indiana senator, said.
Harris, however, said an administration with Biden at the helm will not raise taxes on any Americans making less than $400,000.
'I thought we saw enough of it in last week's debate but I thought this was supposed to be a debate on fact and truth,' she said. 'Joe Biden has been very clear. He will not raise taxes on anyone who makes less than $400,000 a year.'
Trump and Biden participated in the first of three presidential debates last week, and are scheduled to participate in two more in the next two weeks in Miami, Florida and Nashville, Florida respectively.
Despite Trump's positive coronavirus diagnosis, the president says he still plans to participate in the debate next Thursday – and pending a negative test, Biden says he is prepared to participate as well.
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