One of the richest people on Earth and the most powerful man in the world are in a spat.
Jeff Bezos, founder and chairman of online retail giant Amazon, lashed out at President Joe Biden after the White House blamed billionaires for inflation.
As Biden struggles to find a solution to the country&s runaway inflation, voters are blaming him for the high cost of living. Vulnerable Democrats have tried to cast the blame on wealthy billionaires and corporations, and Bezos appears to have given them an opportunity to name names.
The two parties spent Monday going back and forth, arguing about the role billionaires play in the US economy and who is responsible for the current financial troubles in the country.
—Jeff Bezos (@JeffBezos) May 14, 2022
The White House and Bezos have a new, more combative relationship, which was shown in the episode.
Biden could benefit from the moment as it gives the president a high profile opponent who is unpopular with the progressive wing of the party.
Adam Green, co-founder of the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, said that Biden could have been no greater political villain and punching bag than a billionaire.
Brad Bannon, a pollster for Democrats, progressive issue groups and labor unions, called Bezos a formidable enemy as the publisher of the Washington Post and one of the wealthiest people in America.
The benefit of using Amazon and its CEO as a political cudgel is one of the few things the American left and right can agree on. The Washington Post, owned by Bezos, published in-depth reporting on the Trump administration's many problems, as well as business dealings, and was criticized by Donald Trump.
Biden, a centrist, appears more willing to agree with liberals in his party, which calls for higher taxes on billionaires like Bezos and supports unionization efforts at companies like Amazon.
Biden needs to be aggressive against inflation, and picking a fight against a mega-rich guy and a poster child for corporate greed is a great way to go.
Attacking Bezos allows Democrats to highlight voters concerns that Republicans are indifferent to the plight of ordinary Americans, and that they don't care about the financial plight of ordinary Americans.
Chuck Rocha is a Democratic strategist and former senator.
It is good that Biden is standing up to the rich.
At a White House briefing on Monday, the press secretary cast Bezos as a wealthy foil to Biden's middle class agenda.
She said that it was not a huge mystery why one of the wealthiest individuals on Earth opposed an economic agenda that was for the middle class.
The downside of going after Bezos is that he has the media platform and money to influence public opinion against President Biden.
The Washington Post has been aggressive in its reporting on Amazon and Blue Origin, two companies owned by Bezos, despite the fact that he does not influence their coverage.
The strategist and former communications director for the Blue Dog Coalition of moderate House Democrats said that Bezos is correct about the debt and deficit.
Both parties are at fault for that, she wrote in an email. It doesn't help anyone for the public and private sectors to be at war.
A person for Amazon did not respond to a request for comment.
Bezos and the Biden team have been at odds over who is to blame for the US economy. The Amazon CEO took issue with the Biden administration's claim that it was easing inflation by lowering the federal deficit.
Andrew Bates, a spokesman for the White House, told the Washington Post that it doesn't require a huge leap to figure out why one of the wealthiest individuals on Earth doesn't support an economic agenda for the middle class.
Bezos was on the offense by Monday afternoon.
They want to muddy the topic. Inflation hurts the neediest the most. Neither unions nor wealthy people are causing inflation.
—Jeff Bezos (@JeffBezos) May 16, 2022
When asked for comment, he pointed to a thread he posted on the social networking site, saying that Biden had met with the Amazon labor union leader and that Bezos had supported federal investments to lower emissions.
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