Now that the coronavirus scare has swept across the globe and hit hard on Wall Street, sending the stock market plummeting, Donald Trump’s chances of reelection seem less certain by the day.
But there are other dark clouds on the horizon for Trump, who is reportedly obsessed with his own poll numbers and the rising sentiment among the majority of Americans that the country is on the wrong track under his leadership.
The most serious threat to Trump winning a second term is a case before the Supreme Court, which will be issuing a ruling before November regarding whether or not Congress has a right to take a long look at the president’s tax returns as the Constitution seems to clearly suggest it does.
NBC News reports:
“The justices … agreed, with no noted dissents, to hear Trump’s appeal of lower court rulings involving subpoenas issued by the Democratic majority on the House Oversight Committee. It orders President Trump’s accounting firm to turn over Trump-related financial documents covering 2011 through 2018.”
The House of Representatives, under the leadership of Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) raised the stakes considerably on Wednesday, with a 108-page brief filed to the Supreme Court, laying out the legal precedent for Congress to examine the tax returns of any U.S. citizen, as specified by the writers of the U.S. Constitution, with this line perfectly summing up the matter:
“This Court has never invalidated a Congressional subpoena that was part of an ongoing Congressional inquiry.”
While we can’t know how the high court will rule, especially since there are two Trump appointees among its members, we can lay out two scenarios, both of which could prove damaging to Trump’s chances of reelection:
- Trump loses the case and has to turn over his tax returns, highlights of which can be discussed in Congressional hearings
- Trump wins the case and is allowed to keep his tax returns hidden, meaning he can continue to obstruct Congress and the American people, which is not something you want haunting you when you’re seeking votes
Either way, the Trump tax matter has the potential to destroy Donald Trump completely if only because it will be a topic of discussion and debate. Add to that a slowing economy, a limping stock market, and a pandemic, and you have a gigantic loss by Trump on Election Day, no matter which Democrat he’s facing.
Secrets have a way of coming out at the worst time. And it appears Donald Trump is about to find that out the hard way.