New York, New York - As his historic hush money trial rolls on, former President Donald Trump has sparked new criticism over some old comments.

In 2016, the businessman fought a fast-paced election campaign against Hillary Clinton, with Trump narrowly winning the race for the presidency.

Though it's been eight years since that election, Trump's comments from that time are back at the center of discussions on X.

One of his statements from a debate with Clinton has sparked particular fury, as the former Secretary of State called out the fact that Trump had deviated from the four-decade-old rule that presidential candidates must disclose their income tax returns.

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When Clinton mentioned that Trump had not paid taxes for years, he did not refute this claim but simply said: "That makes me smart."

The X account of the organization Republicans against Trump shared the corresponding video clip and wrote: "Flashback. Donald Trump bragged about not paying taxes."

The clip sparked a fresh wave of debate as users weighed in on the comments via X.

"There is nothing more anti-American than not paying tax..." one user commented.

"He's not for the people like he claims, he's only for himself and his rich buddies," another wrote. "These are the people that should be taxed heavily, not given tax breaks."

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However, some users also defended Trump, with one viewer writing: "We are all trying to pay the least we can. [It's] our money. Not the governments."

In a speech from 2015, Trump publicly remarked even then that he, like every other taxpayer in the US, always tries to pay as little as possible.

As reported by CBS, he said, "I fight like hell to pay as little as possible for two reasons. Number one, I'm a businessman. And that's the way you're supposed to do it.

"The other reason is that I hate the way our government spends our taxes. I hate the way they waste our money. Trillions and trillions of dollars of waste and abuse. And I hate it."

Joe Biden recently took a jab at his re-election opponent's refusal to disclose tax payments after releasing his 2023 tax returns, writing, "Reminder this Tax Day: Trump wants to give his wealthy friends a tax break. I'm making sure they start paying their fair share."