Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos speaks during the UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) in Glasgow, Scotland, Britain, November 2, 2021.
Paul Ellis | Reuters
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos took aim at President Joe Biden on Friday over a tweet that said inflation could be brought down by taxing wealthy corporations.
Biden earlier in the day tweeted: “You want to bring down inflation? Let’s make sure the wealthiest corporations pay their fair share.”
Bezos, whose company has benefited from tax credits and deductions, quoted the tweet to retort: “The newly created Disinformation Board should review this tweet, or maybe they need to form a new Non Sequitur Board instead,” the former CEO said, apparently referring to the Department of Homeland Security’s Disinformation Governance Board. “Raising corp taxes is fine to discuss. Taming inflation is critical to discuss. Mushing them together is just misdirection.”
While he didn’t call out Amazon specifically in that tweet, Biden has previously criticized the company’s tax history. Amazon paid no federal income taxes in 2017 and 2018.
The Twitter spat comes as inflation reaches levels not seen in decades, affecting the cost of essential goods like gas, food and housing. Federal Reserve officials have responded to the problem with two interest rate hikes so far this year. They’ve pledged more until inflation comes down to the central bank’s 2% goal.