Internet destroys Rachel Maddow after Trump tax return ‘scoop’ fails miserably

MSNBC host Rachel Maddow's breathless "breaking news" hype about President Donald Trump's tax returns fell flat Tuesday night. And  Twitterverse was merciless in its response to the failed "scoop."

The tax returns Maddow obtained were from 2005 — and they weren't even the full return. In fact, they were only two pages from his 1040 forum, showing how much Trump made and how much he paid in federal taxes.

Those numbers, too — Trump's income and tax paid — didn't give Maddow an explosive story. The returns stated that Trump made $150 million in 2005 and that he paid $38 million in taxes, which equaled about 25 percent of his income — certainly not fitting the liberal narrative that rich Americans don't pay their "fair share" or that Trump is a tax evader.

Maddow's story flopped and the internet destroyed her for it:

Others compared Maddow's segment to one of the most infamous live television moments in all of history: when Geraldo Rivera opened Al Capone's vault only to find that it was empty:

Even Trump's son, Donald Trump Jr., got in on the action:

While others pointed out that what Maddow did is potentially illegal:

Still, others thanked Maddow for proving that Trump did pay his "fair share" in 2005, which amounted to more than other noted liberals and mainstream media organizations:

Overall, a rough night for Maddow.