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Let’s correct a few inaccuracies about Donald Trump

Mr Trump's combative campaign often targets Muslims. Photo: Getty

Mr Trump's combative campaign often targets Muslims. Photo: Getty Photo: Getty

Scandalous claims that Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has been embroiled in a sex tape scandal and avoided paying taxes for decades may not be exactly what they seem.

While both accusations have some basis in fact, the truth of these matters have become somewhat clouded.

He certainly appeared in a Playboy film and made some questionable tax dealings. But beyond that, be careful what you believe.

We’ve examined both claims to explain what actually happened.

‘He could have avoided taxes for two decades’

trump tax

A line from Donald Trump’s 1995 tax return. Photo: The New York Times

Trump’s personal finances have been a simmering sub-plot of the presidential campaign, as he refuses to release his tax returns.

In an exclusive report, The New York Times said it had obtained Mr Trump’s 1995 tax records, showing he received the large tax benefits from financial deals that went bad in the early 1990s.

Subsequent reports in other publications falsely suggested the presidential candidate illegally avoided paying taxes for almost two decades. That has not yet been proven.

Before leaping to conclusions, it’s worth reading the original passage from the report (below), which makes it clear that there is no hard evidence of long-term tax avoidance.

“Donald J Trump declared a $916 million loss on his 1995 income tax returns, a tax deduction so substantial it could have allowed him to legally avoid paying any federal income taxes for up to 18 years, records obtained by The New York Times show.”

“The 1995 tax records, never before disclosed, reveal the extraordinary tax benefits that Mr. Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, derived from the financial wreckage he left behind in the early 1990s through mismanagement of three Atlantic City casinos.”

“This is a perfectly legal application of the tax code. And he would have been fool not to take advantage of it,” one of Mr Trump’s advisers, former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani, told reporters on Sunday.

He compared Mr Trump’s ability to financially come back from the nearly $US1 billion loss to the turnarounds of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs and Winston Churchill, Britain’s famous World War II prime minister.

“It shows what a genius he is. It shows he was able to preserve his enterprise, and then he was able to build it,” Mr Giuliani said.

Trump’s ‘sex tape’

The 2000 video in which Trump briefly appeared.

The 2000 video in which Trump briefly appeared.

The outspoken billionaire was discovered to have appeared in a Playboy erotic film, BuzzFeed reported.

The original story highlights a glimpse of Mr Trump’s cameo in the VHS softcore film Video Centerfold, in 2000.

These were some of the headlines that followed: “Donald Trump appears in a softcore porn movie”, “Donald Trump Appeared In A Playboy Softcore Porn Video”, “Donald Trump once appeared in a softcore porn movie”.

Some media outlets even referred back to the business tycoon’s Twitter tirade where he accused Hillary Clinton supporter and former Miss Universe Alicia Machado of having made a sex tape as part of his campaign to discredit her.

“A ‘sex tape’ of his own!” one headline read.

However, his brief appearance in the film was not as prominent as headlines hinted. It lasted just a few seconds.

In the clip, a fully clothed Mr Trump is seen pouring a bottle of champagne on the Playboy-branded limo on a New York street.

He was surrounded by a group of women who were also fully clothed.

It does speak to his past behaviour, but it’s hardly the “Donald Trump sex tape” many were proclaiming. See for yourself.

Watch Donald Trump’s Playboy appearance below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L_8f6cPrUio

 

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