Protesters from about 150 American cities joined in the so-called ‘Tax March’ this Saturday. The march aims to push Trump to release his tax returns because Americans deserve to know about the president’s business and potential conflicts of interests. However, this is something that the president has refused to do so.

Trump is the first major party nominee not to release his tax return in the last 40 years. He said that he couldn’t release them because they were under audit, but then he even got to say that voters don’t even care about that. Therefore, people went out and took the street to demand their right to know about the president’s returns, holding signs that read “Don the Con” “Show your taxes” “show me the money” among others.

“I’m really mad because he made Barack Obama produce his birth certificate, and he’s not even producing his tax returns,” said CJ. Ingram, a D.C resident who attended the march. “Come on, really? What are you hiding?”

Tax March protesters demands Trump to release his tax returns
A protester of Saturday’s Tax March holds up a sign directed at President Donald Trump asking “What are you hiding?”. Image Source: 13News Now

Trump might have something to hide

In Washington DC one of Trump’s biggest critics in the House, Democratic Rep. Maxine Waters of California, said to the protesters – just before they were set off on the march to the National Mall – that the truth is that Trump is hiding something, but that he wouldn’t get away with it. Earlier Senator Ron Wyde, an Oregon Democrat, said that Trump must stop the secrecy and that people have a fundamental right to know if the President pays his taxes.

“The simple truth is he’s got a lot to hide,” said Waters “If he thinks he can get away with playing king, he’s got another thought coming,” said Waters.

As well, Chuck Schumer, Senate Democratic leader, said that Trump’s refusal to show his returns could hinder Republicans’ prospects for a rewrite of the tax code. Democrat senator, Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, posted Friday a video pledging Congress to compel Trump to release his tax return as soon as possible.

Democrats are trying to pass a bill from Rep. Anna Eshoo, a Democrat from California, to force the president and all major-party nominees to reveal their previous three years of tax returns with the Office of Government Ethics or the Federal Election Commission.

Presidents are technically not obliged to release their tax returns; however, over the last four decades, all the directors and major party presidential nominees have been voluntarily transparent about them, except Gerard Ford.

Trump tax returns demanded by advocates
The fact that Trump continues refusing to release his returns is raising the alarms about possible conflicts of interests, advocates claim. Image Source: Amny

Voters do care about Trump’s tax returns

Trump said they were under audit and that anyways, people didn’t care to know about that, but the Tax March is a sign that people are anxious about Trump not revealing the truth about his returns.

“We do care. We want to see his taxes,” said Ann Demerlis, who was among hundreds who marched in Philadelphia from City Hall to an area in front of historic Independence Hall. “It’s possible that he can now show his taxes because his current taxes are not being audited,” said she,

Trump spent the Saturday morning at his Florida Golf Course. However, he was not ignorant of the march that was being held across the bridge that divides West Palm Beach and Palm Beach. Protesters in Florida were chanting “go back to New York” and holding signs with messages such as “Show your taxes.”

In Massachusetts, protesters converged at first on Cambridge Common, and they wanted to call on all the Democratic Massachusetts Congressional delegation to oppose Trump’s budget proposal because they deemed it to be cruel and inhumane given the proposed cuts to health care, education, and transportation

The president is too “chicken” to disclose his tax returns

The protests around the U.S fall on the country’s tradition to file taxes before April 15. Therefore people expect Trump to respect this deadline.  However, some are not that hopeful. In Washington, Thousands gathered on the lawn of the U.S Capitol – including locals and a lot of spring break tourists – where an inflatable chicken with a hair similar to Trump’s, as a way to suggest that Trump was too chicken to reveal his secret taxes to the public. Same chickens were also seen in other places including New York City, where activists, comedians, and a state senator took the time to say a few words.

According to the non-profit organization, Electronic Privacy Information Center, there is a provision in the IRS regulation that allows Trump to release the returns even if they are under audit, which is the excuse that Trump has posed to avoid making them public. Therefore, Electronic Privacy Information Center decided to file a lawsuit in the D.C. Federal Court Saturday over Trump’s tax returns.

During the protests in the district, some of the speakers included Sen. Ron Wyden, Rep. Maxine Waters and Rep. Jamie B. Raskin (Democrat of Maryland) and others. Raskin said that Trump was behaving more like a king than as a president. He also said that nobody in America is above the law, not even the president. He sent a message to Trump saying that if he doesn’t make public his tax returns, there is no way of knowing if he is putting America or his business first.

Source: The Washington Post