On Wednesday’s NBC Today, co-host Matt Lauer and his colleagues were aghast Team USA’s Olympic champions would be forced to pay taxes on their winning medals. Lauer proclaimed: “Like other medalists, Michael [Phelps] receives a cash bonus for all the hardware. Guess what? He’s gonna have to pay taxes on every single medal and every single bonus. It's called the victory tax.”
He continued: “And because the medals and bonuses are considered income, you pay taxes. So Michael could end up paying $55,000.” Fellow co-host Hoda Kotb was incredulous: “What?” Weatherman Al Roker declared: “That's crazy.” Lauer asked: “Thumbs up or thumbs down for the taxes?” The Today cast and the crowd behind them all booed loudly. Roker replied: “Thumbs down!”
Lauer wrapped up the segment by touting an effort to change the policy: “But this morning, The Wall Street Journal says there is a new move here to give Olympians a tax break.” Natalie Morales applauded the move: “Yes, yes on that.” Roker proclaimed: “Give them a break!”
Despite the sudden anti-tax fever on the NBC morning show, the network has routinely pushed the Democratic Party’s agenda of “raising revenue” for massive government spending with tax hikes. Lauer himself has repeatedly demanded Republicans agree to such hikes:
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In 2010, then-NBC Nightly News anchor Brian Williams and political director Chuck Todd feared the “lost revenue” that would result from a budget deal that didn’t raise taxes.
Opening Meet the Press in September of 2014, Todd hyped liberal hopes that an “Anti Anti-Tax Fever” was sweeping the country with “Some Americans suddenly saying tax cutting has gone too far.” He speculated such a trend could hurt Republicans in the upcoming mid-term election – which the GOP proceeded to win in a landslide.
In January of 2015, NBC Nightly News anchor Lester Holt promoted President Obama’s proposed tax hike “for the wealthiest Americans” in his State of the Union address as something that might be “putting Congress in the position of appearing to defend the highest income earners over the middle class.” CNBC chief Washington correspondent John Harwood cheered the dead-on-arrival plan as “a turning point in our politics.”
Here is a transcript of the August 17 exchange on Today:
8:14 AM ET
MATT LAUER: Alright, the folks at Getty have just released their official portrait of Michael Phelps, the greatest of all time. Wears all the medals he’s won here in Rio, five gold and one silver. Like other medalists, Michael receives a cash bonus for all the hardware. Guess what? He’s gonna have to pay taxes on every single medal and every single bonus. It's called the victory tax. And because the medals and bonuses are considered income, you pay taxes. So Michael could end up paying $55,000.
HODA KOTB: What?
AL ROKER: That's crazy.
BILLY BUSH: Big Brazilian boo.
LAUER: Thumbs up or thumbs down for the taxes?
ROKER: Thumbs down!
KOTB: Boo!
LAUER: Thumbs down! But this morning, The Wall Street Journal says there is a new move here to give Olympians a tax break.
ROKER: Come on.
NATALIE MORALES: Yes, yes on that.
ROKER: Give them a break!
