Trump Mocked After Threatening To Remove Universities' Tax-Exempt Status
The man who once famously said, “I love the poorly educated,” apparently has a big problem with higher education.
President Donald Trump on Friday railed against universities and school systems that he argued were “about radical left indoctrination, not education.”
In two tweets, the president said he was telling the Treasury Department to “re-examine” the tax-exempt status of colleges and universities if they use “propaganda or act against public policy.”
Too many Universities and School Systems are about Radical Left Indoctrination, not Education. Therefore, I am telling the Treasury Department to re-examine their Tax-Exempt Status...
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 10, 2020
... and/or Funding, which will be taken away if this Propaganda or Act Against Public Policy continues. Our children must be Educated, not Indoctrinated!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 10, 2020
But Trump’s proposal to eliminate tax-exempt status for educational institutions that supposedly indoctrinate students may not pass legal muster.
The “advocacy of a particular position or viewpoint” can qualify as educational for tax purposes “if there is a sufficiently full and fair exposition of pertinent facts to permit an individual or the public to form an independent opinion or conclusion,” according to IRS policy reported by Politico.
Many Twitter users also took issue with the president’s tweets.
America wants to investigate YOUR tax-exempt status. https://t.co/3fO2QZe854
— Dan Rather (@DanRather) July 10, 2020
I'm old enough to remember when conservatives went crazy when they thought the IRS was targeting right-wing organizations for political purposes. No doubt, they will all loudly express their indignation over this. https://t.co/Lfn1a5v6KH
— David Corn (@DavidCornDC) July 10, 2020
Real politburo crap here. You do NOT get to define what education is or is not. You do not get to mandate what we say, think, read or how we express ourselves. You do not control our bodies, our minds, our beliefs, or our sexual preferences. @realDonaldTrump https://t.co/wK0YqpOY26
— Brian J. Karem (@BrianKarem) July 10, 2020
The would-be dictator wants to withhold funding based on the content of speech. So much for the Constitution. https://t.co/AOFAbvIeQU
— Walter Shaub (@waltshaub) July 10, 2020
He's hoping news organizations cover this empty threat today instead of his refusal/inability to read his daily intelligence briefs containing real threats like Putin paying to kill American troops. https://t.co/AwiCnAk4lg
— Lawrence O'Donnell (@Lawrence) July 10, 2020
No one gets to bitch about "cancel culture" after this overt threat by the sitting president against all higher ed institutions that aren't an iteration of Liberty U because he disagrees with some professors' politics ⬇️ https://t.co/t1GBSkPdez
— Fiddler (@cFidd) July 10, 2020
Dude who had someone take his SATs doesn't understand higher learning. I am shocked.
No wonder he created that sham Trump University. https://t.co/apHVGbvYX3— Jerry James Stone (@jerryjamesstone) July 10, 2020
One person gently suggested that the president might want to rethink his plan.
Good luck with this one at the Supreme Court. You’ve been racking up loss after loss lately, you really want to go again? https://t.co/BZeICpcKoB
— Gary Whitta (@garywhitta) July 10, 2020
HuffPost reached out to the Treasury Department for comment.
Love HuffPost? Become a founding member of HuffPost Plus today.
Related...
Trolling Trump Isn’t The Same Thing As Beating Him
Twitter Explodes With Calls To Boycott Goya Foods After CEO Heaps Praise On Trump
Donald Trump Gets 'An F' For Fractions In Coronavirus Testing Tweet
Also on HuffPost
He Has 9 Billion Dollars
In a tasteless boast, Trump went on to reveal he refused a bank's loan of $4bn. He said: “I don’t need it. I don’t want it. And I’ve been there.”
While millions of Americans continue to suffer the effects of sluggish economic growth, Trump is blissfully unaffected. Well, that's how he makes it sound.
But He's Never Used A Cash Machine
During an appearance on 'Late Night with Conan O'Brien', Trump said that he'd never seen the need to use ATMs, all the while hinting at his extraordinary wealth.
He Gets Super Defensive About Money
But unlike those struggling to make ends meet, Trump is more concerned with the perception of his wealth, which he says is "more than $9 bn".
When an author suggested Trump had a net worth of less than $300m, the property tycoon sued him for libel.
Yet during testimony, Trump admitted his own estimations depend on his "feelings".
It was reported Trump said: "Yes, even my own feelings (guide estimates of my wealth), as to where the world is, where the world is going, and that can change rapidly from day to day."
Trump lost the libel case.
He's Leading A Fact-Free Campaign
In a remarkable exchange with FOX News host Bill O'Reilly, the famously impertinent presenter took exception to flawed statistics banded about by Trump.
O’Reilly: This bothered me, I gotta tell ya. You tweeted out that whites killed by blacks — these are statistics you picked out from somewhere — at a rate of 81 percent. And that’s totally wrong. Whites killed by blacks is 15 percent, yet you tweeted it was 81 percent. Now …
Trump: Bill, I didn’t tweet, I retweeted somebody that was supposedly an expert, and it was also a radio show.
O’Reilly: Yeah, but you don’t wanna be. … Why do you want to be in that zone?
Trump: Hey, Bill, Bill, am I gonna check every statistic? I get millions and millions of people, @RealDonaldTrump, by the way.
O’Reilly: You gotta, you’re a presidential contender, you gotta check ’em.
He Takes His Name Way Too Seriously
J. Taikwok Yung, a self-described "domainer" from Brooklyn, NY, was hauled before judges after Trump noticed he'd bought up a huge amount of his brand online.
Trump sought the maximum damages allowed - $100,000 for each of the four Trump-related domain names bought by Yung.
And he had legal grounds: Trump is a trademark with the United States Patent and Trademark Organisation and is adorned on many a high-stakes casino, and several hotels.
This article originally appeared on HuffPost and has been updated.
