Warren Buffett attacks Donald Trump on ‘tax and business failings’
Billionaire hedge-fund mogul Warren Buffett has gone to war to US Presidential candidate Donald Trump by attacking him over his tax returns and business record.
Buffett, known as the Sage of Omaha for his investment bets, challenged Trump to publish his tax returns, which the Republican candidate has failed to do as he claims to be under audit from the Internal Revenue Service.
“You’re only afraid if you’ve got something to be afraid about. He’s not afraid because of the IRS, he’s afraid because of you,” Buffett said.
The attack undercut a key Trump claim, that his record as a real-estate investor and businessman made him qualified for President.
Buffett, 84, said the stock-market listing of Trump’s Atlantic City hotels business, for example, showed Trump’s failings as a businessman.
“In 1995, when he offered this company, if a monkey had thrown a dart at the stock page, the monkey on average would’ve made 150%,” he said.
“But the people that believed in him, who listened to his siren song, ended up losing well over 90 cents in the dollar. They got back less than a dime.”
Buffett, who has a revered status in US business world, made the claims last night at a campaign rally supporting Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton.
