AOC to Howard Schultz: Billionaires who want to be president should run for city council first

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) took a swipe at former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz this Wednesday, saying that his Independent presidential bid is just a symptom of him being an entitled billionaire.

“Why don’t people ever tell billionaires who want to run for President that they need to ‘work their way up’ or that ‘maybe they should start with city council first’?” she tweeted.

The tweet linked to a Daily Beast story that cited comments from Schultz regarding the 70-percent marginal tax rate on income above $10 million proposed by Ocasio-Cortez.

“I respect the Democratic Party. I no longer feel affiliated because I don’t know their views represent the majority of Americans. I don’t think we want a 70 percent income tax in America,” Schultz said in an interview with CNBC Monday night.

“The way I’ve come to this decision is, I believe that if I ran as a Democrat, I would have to say things that I know in my heart I do not believe, and I would have to be disingenuous,” he added.

As the Daily Beast points out, Ocasio-Cortez’s idea to tax earnings over $10 million at 70 percent has wide support, with 59 percent of voters backing it.

Schultz caused an uproar among Democrats and liberal Twitter when he announced this Sunday that he’ll be running for president as an Independent in 2o2o. Many think his bid will take votes away from Democrats and help Trump get reelected.

Elizabeth Warren, who announced her presidential bid late last year, also took a swipe at Schultz, saying that he’s trying to “buy the presidency.”

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,” Warren tweeted on Tuesday. “The top 0.1%, who’d pay my #UltraMillionaireTax, own about the same wealth as 90% of America. It’s time for change.”

Featured image via screen grab (MSNBC/NBC News)

Sky Palma

Before launching DeadState back in 2012, Sky Palma has been blogging about politics, social issues and religion for over a decade. He lives in Los Angeles and also enjoys Brazilian jiu jitsu, chess, music and art.