Elizabeth Warren Fires Back at Howard Schultz: ‘Ridiculous’ For Billionaires to Think They Can ‘Buy the Presidency’
Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) is the latest Democratic figure throwing friendly fire at former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz amid his possible plans to run for president in 2020.
Schultz, who continues to flirt with the idea of running for POTUS, spoke to NPR’s Steve Inskeep on Tuesday as part of his ongoing media tour. According to Politico, Schultz criticized several popular liberal proposals during this interview, including Warren’s “ridiculous” idea of placing higher taxes on “ultramillionaires.”
“When I see Elizabeth Warren come out with a ridiculous plan of taxing wealthy people a surtax of 2 percent because it makes a good headline or sends out a tweet when she knows for a fact that’s not something that’s ever gonna be passed, this is what’s wrong,” Schultz said. “You can’t just attack these things in a punitive way by punishing people.”
As it were, Warren has noticed Schultz’s criticism, and she doesn’t approve of them:
What’s “ridiculous” is billionaires who think they can buy the presidency to keep the system rigged for themselves while opportunity slips away for everyone else. The top 0.1%, who’d pay my #UltraMillionaireTax, own about the same wealth as 90% of America. It’s time for change. https://t.co/D04G5fNvpa
— Elizabeth Warren (@ewarren) January 29, 2019
Even though Schultz is known to hold left-leaning political views on a variety of issues, a lot of Democrats have been slamming him over the last few days because of his interest in running as a third-party candidate. The common concern is that Schultz’s run would only divide the Democratic Party and make it easier for President Donald Trump to secure re-election.
Schultz says he wants to be viewed as a “contrast independent” candidate because he has broken with several political positions that have become mainstream among Democrats. Aside from his differences with Warren, Schultz disagrees with Sen, Kamala Harris‘ (D-CA) support of Medicare for all, plus he doesn’t care for Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s (D-NY) idea for a 70 percent income tax on the super-wealthy.
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