Warren Buffett challenges Donald Trump to release his tax returns

Investor is the latest billionaire to take the stage with Hillary Clinton and offers to drive people to polling stations if they vote against the Republican

Billionaire investor Warren Buffett has pledged allegiance to the Hillary Clinton club by demanding Donald Trump releases his tax returns and by offering to drive voters to the polls so they can vote against the Republican.

Standing alongside Ms Clinton at a rally in Omaha, Nebraska, the 85-year-old founder of investment company Berkshire Hathaway said he hoped to extend an offer to Mr Trump that he could not refuse.

"You will learn a whole lot more about Donald Trump if he produces his income tax return," said Mr Buffett.

"I would be delighted to meet him any place, any time, between now and the election. I’ll bring my tax return and he will bring his tax return," said Mr Buffett.

Ms Clinton told the crowd in the crucial Cornhusker state that Mr Buffett, the third richest man in the world, "supports a fairer tax code" whereas Mr Trump wants to cut tax for the rich.

Mr Trump has been the first presidential candidate since 1980 not to release his returns, and has claimed several times that he cannot release them while they are being audited, although Mr Buffett said there were no such rules.

"We are both under audit and believe me, nobody’s going to stop us from talking on what’s on those returns," warned Mr Buffett.

"You’re only afraid if you’ve got something to be afraid about," he added. "He’s not afraid because of the IRS [Internal Revenue Service], he’s afraid because of you."

The billionaire also promised to take at least 10 people to the voting polls who otherwise would have difficulty come 8 November.

Mr Buffett also asked how could Mr Trump stand up to parents who have lost their son in the Iraq war and compare their sacrifices to his "building a bunch of buildings".

He was referring to Khizr and Ghazala Khan, whose son Humayun Khan died in 2004. At the Democratic National Convention, they demanded that Mr Trump stop smearing Muslims’ character.

"I ask Donald Trump: have you no sense of decency, sir?" Mr Buffett asked, mirroring Joseph Welch’s question during the anti-communist McCarthy hearings in 1954.

Mr Buffett joins other known business people to endorse Ms Clinton over the last week, including former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg and investor Mark Cuban.