White House fires back after Bezos Twitter burn

The Biden administration fired back at Jeff Bezos on Monday after the billionaire took to Twitter to criticize President Joe Biden for saying his plan to tax the rich would lower consumer costs as unprecedented levels of inflation continue to ravage the U.S. economy.

On Sunday, Bezos posted a tweet accusing Biden of misleading the public and worsening the inflationary crisis, saying officials “tried hard to inject even more stimulus into an already over-heated, inflationary economy and only (Senator Joe) Manchin saved them from themselves.”

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. https://t.co/a8cygcunEG

— Jeff Bezos (@JeffBezos) May 15, 2022

Bezos posted a tweet over the weekend accusing Biden of misleading the public and blaming his administration for a spike in inflation, saying they "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,” he added.

Bezos’ remarks Sunday came just days after another heated Twitter exchange between the billionaire and the White House. 

“You want to bring down inflation? Let’s make sure the wealthiest corporations pay their fair share,” Biden tweeted.

“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,” replied Bezos.

In a statement, White House Spokesperson Andrew Bates responded saying, “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."

Bates also accused Bezos of paying too little in taxes and appeared to support Amazon workers’ recent efforts to unionize.

"It's also unsurprising that this tweet comes after the President met with labor organizers, including Amazon employees," Bates said.

In recent weeks, the Biden administration has suggested that raising taxes on the wealthiest Americans could help stem inflation. His tax and spending plans have met fierce resistance in Congress, however, and West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin has stopped the Democrats from passing any new spending legislation.

"Raising corp taxes is fine to discuss," Bezos wrote. "Taming inflation is critical to discuss. Mushing them together is just misdirection."