ANTHRAX's CHARLIE BENANTE Pokes Fun At TRUMP's Years Of Tax Avoidance

ANTHRAX drummer Charlie Benante has poked fun at Donald Trump over the revelation that America's 45th president allegedly used loopholes to avoid paying any federal taxes at all in 10 of 15 years beginning in 2000 by writing off his own losses.

A New York Times exposé of Trump's tax returns Sunday revealed Trump paid just $750 in federal income taxes in 2016 and 2017 each, and he took huge deductions — including $70,000 to take care of his hair — while also writing off hundreds of thousands of dollars paying his daughter Ivanka as a consultant to the Trump Organization.

On Sunday, Charlie took to his Twitter to write: "Over the past 15 years, Trump paid more for sex than he did in taxes. Just sayin . #taxesareforsuckers". The musician's comment was an apparent reference to the fact that Trump admitted in 2018 to reimbursing his lawyer for a $130,000 payment made on the eve of the 2016 election to porn actress Stormy Daniels as part of a settlement about her alleged 2006 sexual encounter with Trump.

When one of Benante's followers implored Charlie to stay out of politics, the drummer replied: "Calm down ! Nothing to do with politics, it's all about the rest of us paying OUR taxes and someone hasn't". Another follower wrote: "Stick to drumming, Chuck. Just sayin.", to which Benante responded: "Why? I thought that was funny and truthful".

In recent months, Benante has sent out multiple tweets that were critical of the Trump administration. In January, the drummer implied that Trump authorized the killing of Qasem Soleimani, the commander of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps Quds Force, to distract the public from his impeachment trial.

Back in November 2018, Benante told Ireland's Overdrive that he no longer shared his political views online because he didn't want to come under criticism from his fans. "I've stopped posting things about my own beliefs and political standpoint on things because of the bashing I think I'll take for it, and I don't think that's fair," he said. "I'm an American, I pay my taxes and all of this stuff affects me just as much as it affects the next person."