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Comment by saimiam | Hacker News Reader

I would have put quotes around a different, longer b-word.

Whether or not this is in dispute, what you're doing here is injecting Trump and an inevitable culture war about him into a thread that's already likely to be contentious.

Unless Trump has specific relevance to this dispute, which I don't think he does, bringing him up is going to just add heat and fuel, not understanding. I think the mods would rather you didn't.

Just a thought. :)

Is his billionaire status up for debate?

Anything he says about his wealth without also releasing his latest tax returns is up for debate. Whether the debate happens or not is a different question.

I see, thanks for clarifiication. Although even with released tax returns, he could have benevelontly committed fraud there as well, to increase his tax contributions. /s

Does the requirement of viewing tax returns apply to anyone attempting to claim to be a billionaire or is there specific criteria for which to apply this extra safeguard?

Just this guy. And anyone else who barnstorms a country asking to be in a position of power. Asking for vote? Show tax returns, thanks.

Saying someone should show tax returns to run for a high office seems quite a different thing that saying that we should doubt someone's wealth unless they show tax returns.

Are we saying that running for political office is reason to require someone tax returns to prove a claim level of wealth?

Yes.

I'd generalise a bit and say that anyone running for political office should show evidence for claims of fact, purely because supporting claims with evidence is a critical part of running a rational and informed society.

If you don't want to provide proof, don't make claims.

A self-admitted[1] serial liar with a history of failed businesses would require extra scrutiny before anyone should trust their claim of being a billionaire.

[1] The Art of the Deal: http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/07/25/donald-trumps-g...

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