Thread by @ThePlumLineGS, 1) There's a lot of talk that the stunning NYT revelations about [...]

1) There's a lot of talk that the stunning NYT revelations about Trump's tax avoidance won't hurt with his base. They'll only see it as more evidence of his shrewd mastery of an already-rigged system.

But this take misses something much more fundamental. https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/09/28/stunning-new-revelations-about-trumps-taxes-also-expose-hidden-weakness/

The massive losses and rank tax avoidance schemes reveal the depths of the Trump scam.

2) These revelations strip the sheen off of Trump's hyping of himself as a successful businessman like so much imitation gold leaf.

But they also puncture a much larger scam that Trump employed to get elected. https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/09/28/stunning-new-revelations-about-trumps-taxes-also-expose-hidden-weakness/

The massive losses and rank tax avoidance schemes reveal the depths of the Trump scam.

3) Trump openly campaigned in 2016 on the idea that he understood how the rigged system really works -- because he enriched himself off it for so long.

He boasted of buying politicians and not paying taxes, which "makes me smart." https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/09/28/stunning-new-revelations-about-trumps-taxes-also-expose-hidden-weakness/

The massive losses and rank tax avoidance schemes reveal the depths of the Trump scam.

4) But the key was keeping hidden from voters *how* he enriched himself off the rigged system, by refusing to release tax returns.

Now the truly sordid nature of all this self dealing, and the epic incompetence and failure it compensated for, is exposed:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/09/28/stunning-new-revelations-about-trumps-taxes-also-expose-hidden-weakness/

5) Trump's acumen produced the largest policy catastrophe in modern times.

His tax cut further rigged the system for elites.

Wavering voters will see all this as more proof that taking a flyer on the Trump experiment was/is a disastrous miscalculation:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/09/28/stunning-new-revelations-about-trumps-taxes-also-expose-hidden-weakness/

6) Many swing voters will likely see this as more evidence of just how seedy/sordid Trump's self-dealing really is. Pair this with his towering managerial failures and it becomes even clearer that this whole experiment has been a disaster.

Full case here: https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/09/28/stunning-new-revelations-about-trumps-taxes-also-expose-hidden-weakness/

The massive losses and rank tax avoidance schemes reveal the depths of the Trump scam.

"Trump's entire campaign pitch has been that he may be an asshole, but at least he's a smart, tough asshole."

Good point from @AmandaMarcotte: The NYT expose on Trump's taxes kills off that scam as well: https://www.salon.com/2020/09/28/forget-the-apprentice--trumps-taxes-show-he-was-really-the-biggest-loser/

Between Poppa Trump and Mark Burnett, Trump was gifted $840 million — but he may still owe as much as $1 billion

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