Rudy Giuliani Thinks Donald Trump Is A "Genius"

On Saturday, The New York Times released a report claiming that Republican nominee Donald Trump could have avoided paying federal income tax for nearly two decades. The report added to rumors long fueled by Trump's failure to release his tax records on his own. On Sunday, former New York City mayor and Trump supporter Rudy Giuliani responded to the Trump tax report in an interview with CNN's Jake Tapper.

"The man is a genius," Giuliani said on Sunday on State of the Union. "He knows how to operate the tax code for the benefit of the people he is serving."

According to the Times report, Trump declared a nearly $916 million loss on his 1995 income tax returns, which could have qualified him to legally avoid paying federal income tax for up to 18 years. In response, the Trump campaign neither confirmed nor denied the report. Instead, the campaign took aim at the Times, saying in a statement that the Times "is an extension of the Clinton campaign." It's worth noting that the Times ' editorial board recently endorsed Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton for president.

To Giuliani, the tax report means only good things. "The reality is, this is rather common in large, gigantic American businesses," he said on Sunday. "The reality is that most Americans take advantage of every deduction that is available to them."

In last week's presidential debate between Trump and Clinton, Trump himself noted that if he weren't in fact paying income tax, that would make him "smart." Now, the Times may have forced his hand, revealing the documentation on Saturday that could prove he hadn't paid income tax for almost two decades.

For his part, Giuliani remained a fervent Trump supporter on Sunday. In addition to commenting on the tax report, he commented on another Trump-related issue. On Saturday, Trump told a crowd that he doesn't think Clinton is "loyal to Bill." When asked about these comments, Giuliani told Tapper that Trump's comments weren't about the Clintons' marriage at all.

I am saying, the problem with Hillary Clinton has nothing to do, as far as I'm concerned, with her marriage. It's her protection of Bill for 20 or 25 years against allegations of rape, taking advantage of an intern, and going on the attack and trying to make those women appear insane, in some cases.

It's not the first time that Giuliani has used this argument against Clinton. In an interview with Elite Daily, Giuliani criticized Clinton's handling of the Monica Lewinsky incident during her husband's presidency. His support of Trump has often been just as controversial as Trump's campaign itself — and the tax report has only added fuel to the already-blazing fire.