Maddow's 'breaking' Trump tax scoop: two pages showing $38M paid
MSNBC heavily promoted a breaking-news exclusive on Trump's tax returns, which many viewers and Democratic figures took to mean damaging new revelations.
The hype promised proof of Trump wrongdoing that the documents did not contain.
What was reported
MSNBC heavily promoted a breaking-news exclusive on Trump's tax returns, which many viewers and Democratic figures took to mean damaging new revelations.
What actually happened
After a long monologue and an ad break, Maddow showed two pages of Trump's 2005 Form 1040. They showed he paid about $38 million in federal tax on roughly $150 million in income, which undercut claims that he paid little or nothing. The White House had released the figures before the segment aired. Critics across the spectrum, including Democrats who had hyped the alert, said the build-up far outran the substance. Maddow said disappointed viewers had expected too much.
The proof
The documents themselves showed a large federal tax payment, and the White House had already confirmed the figures before broadcast.
The receipt. Copy this and paste it anywhere:
Maddow's 'breaking' Trump tax scoop: two pages showing $38M paid — Bad Call. The documents themselves showed a large federal tax payment, and the White House had already confirmed the figures before broadcast. Full file: https://www.thepropagandafiles.com/case/maddow-trump-2005-tax-return-reveal/
Original reporting
- CNN Money: Rachel Maddow's epic buildup to 2 pages from Trump's 2005 tax returnshttps://money.cnn.com/2017/03/14/media/rachel-maddow-donald-trump-2005-taxes/
Corrections, findings & records
- AP via Fox 4: Maddow says people disappointed by Trump story expected too muchhttps://www.fox4news.com/news/maddow-people-disappointed-by-trump-story-expected-too-much
- TheWrap: Rachel Maddow played us with Trump taxeshttps://www.thewrap.com/rachel-maddow-played-us
Archived copies
Stories get edited after publication. These open the Internet Archive's earliest saved copy of each original.
- Archived copy: CNN Money: Rachel Maddow's epic buildup to 2 pages from Trump's 2005 tax returnshttps://web.archive.org/web/2/https://money.cnn.com/2017/03/14/media/rachel-maddow-donald-trump-2005-taxes/