Donald Trump said it “makes me smart” when Hillary Clinton accused him of failing to pay any federal incomes taxes during Monday’s debate — but following the event, he told CNN that he never admitted to avoiding taxes.
When discussing why Trump won’t release his tax records, Clinton said, “Maybe he doesn’t want the American people, all of you watching tonight, to know that he’s paid nothing in federal taxes.”
Clinton continued, “When he had to turn them over to state authorizes when he was trying to get a casino license… they showed he didn’t pay any federal income tax.”
“That makes me smart,” Trump fired back.
“So if he’s paid zero, that means zero for troops, zero for vets, zero for schools or health,” Clinton said.
CNN’s Dana Bash caught up with Trump following the debate and asked if his comment was an admission to not paying federal taxes.
“No, I didn’t say that at all,” Trump replied before saying, “I hate the way our government spends our taxes.”
Trump famously refuses to release his tax returns, explaining that he can’t because of an ongoing audit. He has repeatedly said that if Clinton releases her missing emails, then he will release his tax returns.