There Is Exactly Zero Proof of What Trump Is Charging
Less than 24 hours after both he and his deputy press secretary falsely attacked the media for supposedly spreading “fake news,” President Donald Trump offered his own contribution. In a tweet, Trump attacked internet retail giant Amazon, and The Washington Post, while literally getting every aspect of his remarks wrong.
“The #AmazonWashingtonPost, sometimes referred to as the guardian of Amazon not paying internet taxes (which they should) is FAKE NEWS!” Trump cried.
Amazon is a public company founded by Jeff Bezos, who does not own a majority share of the company. The Washington Post is a news organization Bezos acquired personally and is owned by a holding company he controls. The two are wholly separate entities.
There is exactly zero proof of what Trump charged.Â
The Washington Post has not lobbied to not pay “internet taxes,” which do not exist, aside from fees related to broadband and cellular companies. Amazon collects and forwards state taxes as appropriate based on state and federal law. And neither the Washington Post nor Amazon are “FAKE NEWS!”
Tech news site Recode Wednesday reported that “Amazon has worked out arrangements with states to collect sales taxes on consumers’ online purchases — all the while seeking a national solution that many Republicans long have opposed.”
During the presidential campaign trump vowed to go after Bezos for anti-trust. Presidents are not supposed to direct investigations by the Dept. of Justice.
In December, Trump posted tweets attacking Bezos, again, with false claims.
“The Washington Post, which loses a fortune, is owned by Jeff Bezos for purposes of keeping taxes down at his no-profit company, Amazon,†Trump tweeted. “If Amazon ever had to pay fair taxes, its stock would crash and it would crumble like a paper bag. The Washington Post scam is saving it!†he added.
Here’s Trump in February of 2016 going after the media, including The New York Times and The Washington Post, and promising to “open up libel laws” so he can sue them:
The Guardian offered these quotes trump made about Bezos during the campaign:
“Amazon is getting away with murder tax-wise. He’s using the Washington Post for power so that the politicians in Washington don’t tax Amazon like they should be taxed. He thinks I’ll go after him for antitrust. Because he’s got a huge antitrust problem because he’s controlling so much, Amazon is controlling so much of what they are doing. The whole system is rigged, whether it’s Hillary [Clinton] or whether its Bezos.†(To Fox News, May 2016)
“I have respect for Jeff Bezos, but he uses the Washington Post to have political influence and I got to tell you, we have a different country than we used to have. He owns Amazon, he wants political influence so that Amazon will benefit from it. That’s not right. And believe me, if I become president, oh do they have problems, they are going to have such problems. (Campaign rally, February 2016.)
To comment on this article and other NCRM content, visit our Facebook page.