Bernie Sanders Again Dodges Tax Return Question, Viral Video Shows How He Sounds Like Trump On Releasing Taxes


During his 2016 presidential campaign, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders said that he would release multiple years of his federal income tax returns. This statement followed news that his opponent in the Democratic primary, Hillary Clinton, had made public her tax returns going back to 1977, per Politico.

But other than a single Form 1040 from the 2014 tax year (posted via DocumentCloud), Sanders has yet to release any further tax returns, more than 1,000 days after he first made the promise. This news comes despite his claim made in 2016 that he had released returns “in the past,” according to The Washington Post, which fact-checked said claim as a “four Pinocchio” falsehood.

After declaring his second run for president earlier this year, Sanders said on February 25 that he would release 10 years worth of tax returns, according to an Associated Press report, saying he would make the returns public “sooner than later.” But more than six weeks have elapsed since that announcement, and Sanders has yet to make any further tax returns public.

His refusal to release the returns is now leading to further questions for Sanders about why he has not made the tax returns public, and when he might do so. Appearing Thursday on CNN, Sanders told a reporter from the network that he was now waiting until April 15, saying, “I think we want to make sure we have all of them together and as I said, they will be released soon.”

Donad Trump gestures.
Donald Trump has never released his tax returns, unlike previous presidents.

Asked whether Sanders meant he would release his tax returns on April 15, the candidate simply refused to answer, saying only, “That’s it. Thank you very much.” A Sanders aide then stepped between Sanders and the CNN reporter, according to the CNN account.

Sanders’ continued refusal to release his tax returns has led to comparisons between Sanders and Donald Trump, who has consistently refused to release any tax returns as a candidate, or in office — setting Trump apart from every United States president since Richard Nixon released his tax returns in 1973, according to CNN.

The MSNBC morning program Morning Joe assembled an online video showing direct parallels between Sanders’ statements about his tax returns and Trump’s own stated rationales for his refusal to make his tax returns public.

Congressional Democrats are currently making efforts to obtain Trump’s tax returns, despite his refusal to release them himself, as The Inquisitr has reported.

Twitter users have also been unimpressed with Sanders’ refusal to release his tax returns for the last three years.

https://twitter.com/mattyglesias/status/1114162060554919937?s=20

On the single 1040 form from 2014 that Sanders released during his 2016 campaign, Sanders and wife showed a total income of $205,617, on which they paid $27,653 in federal income tax, according to The Washington Post.

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