During the primary season, Donald Trump told the press he would release his tax returns when his IRS audit was complete. The IRS then said nothing prevented him from releasing them just as other presidential candidates have done for decades.
Now Trump through his spokesman Paul Manafort has again said he will not release them. This statement comes in light of allegations that Trump has a financial connection to Russian power brokers.
For me, this raises an important question for evangelicals who support Trump because he promised to name conservative Supreme Court justices. Why do you trust him? There is absolutely no basis for trust.
Releasing tax returns is something candidates have done for decades. It is not a novel act of transparency. Not releasing them is a significant red flag. This is especially true because he promised to do it. Now he says he won’t do one of the basic things presidential candidates do.
At some point, I hope evangelical supporters of Trump wake up and recognize that they are being played. The alternative is not to vote for Hillary Clinton. The alternative is to get behind a third party option. According to Better for America, a third party candidate will be announced at the end of July. Evangelicals should at least wait to see who is tapped to lead a third (or fourth or fifth I guess when one considers the Libertarians and Greens) party run.