Former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz said Wednesday that Democratic Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren once asked him to make a campaign donation — and he refused because he feared her brand of politics would lead towards socialism in the U.S.
“I don’t believe the country should be heading to socialism,” Schultz told MSNBC. “I think she believes in programs that will lead to a level of socialism in America.”
[Howard Schultz: I’m doing something right if Democrats are mad at me]
Howard Schultz claims that Sen. Warren asked him for a contribution to her Senate race, and he declined because “I don’t believe the country should be heading to socialism… I think she believes in programs that will lead to a level of socialism in America.” pic.twitter.com/omSwKGehfA
— MSNBC (@MSNBC) January 30, 2019
Schultz, who announced over the weekend he was “seriously considering” a third-party bid for president, said he declined when Warren came to him a few years seeking a contribution for her Senate campaign.
Warren has also joined the 2020 ring, having announced in December that she was launching an exploratory committee. Since then, Warren has proposed a wealth tax, which would start at a 2 percent rate for households with a net worth above $50 million and rise to 3 percent for billionaire households.
Two billionaires also considering a run, Schultz and former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, have pushed back on the proposed tax.
Schultz, who floated the idea of running as a “centrist independent,” said the plan was “ridiculous.” Bloomberg suggested it could lead to a situation similar to what is going on in Venezuela, a country run by a socialist government in the middle of an economic and political crisis.
“We need a healthy economy, and we shouldn’t be embarrassed about our system,” Bloomberg said, adding that people needed to be incentivized to make more. “If you want to look at a system that’s noncapitalistic, just take a look at what was once, perhaps, the wealthiest country in the world and today people are starving to death. It’s called Venezuela.”
