Elizabeth Warren and Amazon Feud on Twitter After Senator Takes Heat For ‘Trumpian’ Threat to Company

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) is clashing with Amazon on Twitter — calling out the tech company for exploiting tax “loopholes” and heckling senators with “snotty tweets.”

The senator went as far as to claim that she wants to “break up Big Tech” so that Amazon could not “heckle” senators on the internet, a threat that sparked alarm and drew criticism.

The dispute comes as Democratic lawmakers, including Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), are calling out Amazon’s labor practices — as the company’s warehouse workers in Bessemer, AL are set to vote on whether to unionize, possibly making it the first Amazon union in the United States.

“Giant corporations like Amazon report huge profits to their shareholders – but they exploit loopholes and tax havens to pay close to nothing in taxes. That’s just not right – and it’s why I’ll be introducing a bill to make the most profitable companies pay a fair share,” wrote in a tweet alongside a video from Thursday’s Senate Finance Committee hearing.

Giant corporations like Amazon report huge profits to their shareholders – but they exploit loopholes and tax havens to pay close to nothing in taxes. That’s just not right – and it’s why I’ll be introducing a bill to make the most profitable companies pay a fair share. pic.twitter.com/vPrmGbjUKW

— Elizabeth Warren (@SenWarren) March 25, 2021

Amazon was quick to respond, writing, “You make the tax laws @SenWarren ; we just follow them. If you don’t like the laws you’ve created, by all means, change them. Here are the facts: Amazon has paid billions of dollars in corporate taxes over the past few years alone.”

Warren shot back by noting that she “didn’t write the loopholes” the company exploits, adding, “your armies of lawyers and lobbyists did. But you bet I’ll fight to make you pay your fair share. And fight your union-busting. And fight to break up Big Tech so you’re not powerful enough to heckle senators with snotty tweets.”

I didn’t write the loopholes you exploit, @amazon – your armies of lawyers and lobbyists did. But you bet I’ll fight to make you pay your fair share. And fight your union-busting. And fight to break up Big Tech so you’re not powerful enough to heckle senators with snotty tweets. https://t.co/3vCAI93MST

— Elizabeth Warren (@SenWarren) March 26, 2021

That tweet drew the ire of Amazon — which called the statement “extraordinary and revealing,” condemning Warren for threatening to break up a company just so they could not criticize her.

This is extraordinary and revealing. One of the most powerful politicians in the United States just said she’s going to break up an American company so that they can’t criticize her anymore. https://t.co/Nt0wcZo17g

— Amazon News (@amazonnews) March 26, 2021

The senator’s remark got her into a bit of hot water — as many on both sides of the aisle, as well as non-partisan observers, took issue with the implication that companies could be punished for disagreeing with politicians. Law Professor and author Jonathan Adler, for instance, called the tweet “positively Trumpian.”

Lots going on here but I’m focused on a Senator thinking it’s appropriate to use the power of the federal government to punish a company for heckling her on Twitter, which is kind of terrifying https://t.co/KfZgiV7wvt

— Leon Wolf (@LeonHWolf) March 26, 2021

Not sure “no bad tweets” is a viable goal for antitrust policy. https://t.co/zPwOKqzYS5

— Matthew Yglesias (@mattyglesias) March 26, 2021

Actually, we need even more heckling senators with snotty tweets. Much more. https://t.co/iCB8Yv59QI

— Liz Wolfe (@lizzywol) March 26, 2021

There may well be reasons to break up Amazon, but a sitting US Senator saying they should be broken up for heckling a Senator is authoritarian, censorial nonsense. This is a very bad look. https://t.co/K7euqBo8ZD

— Mike Masnick (@mmasnick) March 26, 2021

Pretty explicit: Democrats use the threat of governmental power in order to make sure nobody engages of speech that criticizes them. https://t.co/bas5t3LWiu

— Tim Carney (@TPCarney) March 26, 2021

Lol I’m pretty sure literally every American is powerful enough to heckle you with snotty tweets.

Nice grandstanding though. Really stuck it to em. https://t.co/JLJW16uaRj

— Dan Crenshaw (@DanCrenshawTX) March 26, 2021

Behind every oh so tolerant Progressive is a really nasty Authoritarian. Here, fake Native American Elizabeth Warren threatens to break up a private company, and more scarily threatens to use the government to take away free speech rights.

Consider this a heckle, @senwarren. pic.twitter.com/wEZifaG4rt

— Dave Rubin (@RubinReport) March 26, 2021

Just love knowing that the guy at the top of the approval chain for these “snotty tweets” at Elizabeth Warren is Obama Press Secretary Jay Carney. https://t.co/RSawVBbO2R

— Matt Whitlock (@mattdizwhitlock) March 26, 2021

The Rubio-Warren “Scare-The-Bezos-Out-Of-Snotty-Woke-Big-Business” Act of 2021 https://t.co/xvYut6CH37

— Robert A George (@RobGeorge) March 26, 2021

I think it’s funny because Elizabeth Warren has no idea what an off-putting elitist dickhead she’s being.

— Krystle Baker (@TarheelKrystle) March 26, 2021

Notice the explicit threat @SenWarren makes here—which ought to horrify those who care about the rule of law and the American ideal that our government serves its people and not the other way around. Namely, Warren thinks that the state should punish you if you’re mean to her. https://t.co/5K8e8oBByi

— Aaron Ross Powell (@ARossP) March 26, 2021

A government official says she wants to use government power to constrain a private enterprise so it’s “not powerful enough to heckle senators with snotty tweets.” This is a positively Trumpian attitude. https://t.co/8AeuOo0M0n

— Jonathan H. Adler (@jadler1969) March 26, 2021

One great thing about America: every citizen is powerful enough to heckle U.S. Senators with snotty tweets anytime we want, and when a Senator suggests she will change that, she is abusing her power. https://t.co/jV9puGxd7n

— Conor Friedersdorf (@conor64) March 26, 2021

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