The case for treating Trump’s tax returns like he treated Obama’s birth certificate

“Donald Trump, with his loud and reckless innuendos, was putting my family’s safety at risk. And for this I’d never forgive him” — Michelle Obama

That’s what Michelle Obama said about Individual 1’s leading role in spreading the racist falsehood known as birtherism: the lie about President Obama’s birthplace that sought to inflame hatred and to ‘other’ the man who, unlike Trump, actually won the presidency with a popular vote majority—twice. As I’ve written elsewhere, Trump managed to go from birther-in-chief to commander-in-chief.

As birther-in-chief, Trump set a standard, if one can call it that, for what passed as truth and fact. It seems appropriate that we apply that same standard to him, now that he is facing questions regarding his tax returns and financial records. These are far more substantive questions deriving from a significantly firmer foundation of evidence than the wild rumors he spewed regarding where Barack Obama was born. You’ve probably heard the old saying about the goose and the gander. Let’s hope the American people eventually get to see those financial documents, and that they thoroughly cook Trump’s goose.

In that spirit, I’d like to repurpose some of the birther remarks made by America’s biggest tax loser, and apply them to his own attempts to prevent the release of his tax returns and other financial records. Let’s see how Trump’s own words make him look.

View the complete May 12 article by Ian Riefowitz of the Daily Kos on the AlterNet website here.