Jeff Bezos (Photo by Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images for WIRED25 )
It seems like we are living in a political Twilight Zone. Cue the eerie theme music. Jeff Bezos, founder and executive chairman of Amazon, is chiding the White House about President Joe Biden’s comments about inflation and large corporations. Bezos, who also owns one of the nation’s most left-leaning activist media outlets, just couldn’t remain silent.
On May 13, the president posted a series of tweets defending his abysmal performance in office as it relates to the economy. He addressed the infant formula shortage and accused Republicans of wanting to raise taxes on American families to protect large corporations. But the Amazon founder’s jaw tightened when Biden tweeted:
“You want to bring down inflation?
“Let’s make sure the wealthiest corporations pay their fair share.”
Bezos grabbed his iPhone and issued a scathing response, suggesting the president’s new Disinformation Governance Board should flag the president’s tweet as fake news. He wrote:
“The newly created Disinformation Board should review this tweet, or maybe they need to form a new Non Sequitur Board instead. Raising corp taxes is fine to discuss. Taming inflation is critical to discuss. Mushing them together is just misdirection.”
And he didn’t stop there. On May 15, Bezos called out Democrats for attempting to dump more stimulus money into the economy, pointing out that such a move would have only harmed those living in poverty. He tweeted, “In fact, the administration tried hard to inject even more stimulus into an already over-heated, inflationary economy and only Manchin saved them from themselves. Inflation is a regressive tax that most hurts the least affluent. Misdirection doesn’t help the country.”
Biden’s spokesman responded to Bezos’ tweets by saying it is not surprising that one as wealthy as Amazon’s creator would oppose raising taxes on the rich. “It doesn’t require a huge leap to figure out why one of the wealthiest individuals on Earth opposes an economic agenda for the middle class that cuts some of the biggest costs families face, fights inflation for the long haul, and adds to the historic deficit reduction the President is achieving by asking the richest taxpayers and corporations to pay their fair share,” the White House responded. The statement also referenced the fact that Bezos met with labor organizers recently.
On May 16, Bezos lifted his iPhone again and savaged the administration, accusing it of trying to distract from the issue at hand. “Look, a squirrel!” he wrote, adding that the White House was trying to “muddy the topic, knowing “inflation hurts the neediest the most.” The Amazon founder argued that “unions aren’t causing inflation and neither are wealthy people.”
At the moment, this is the last tweet in this clash of titans. Bezos’ shots at the White House are quite noteworthy given the fact that the prominent Washington newspaper he owns has been an ardent defender of this administration. But apparently, enough was enough for the entrepreneur, who did not seem too keen to take the blame for Biden’s missteps.
The president and his team have spent much of the past few months trying to convince the American public that inflation, supply chain issues, gas prices, and other economic woes have nothing to do with his handling of the economy. So far, he has blamed former President Donald Trump, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and greedy corporations for his administration’s failures. Biden’s miserable approval ratings show that practically nobody is buying what he is selling. Not even Jeff Bezos.
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