Former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz, amid a media tour rife with awkward moments, got stumped by Morning Joe on Wednesday when asked: “How much does an 18-ounce box of Cheerios cost?”
“An 18 ounce box of Cheerios? I don’t eat Cheerios,” the billionaire responded to host Mika Brzezinski.
When she revealed the price was four dollars, Schultz was shocked.
ADVERTISEMENT
“That’s a lot,” he said.
Schultz has been on a tour promoting his new book, From the Ground Up, and has announced his intentions to mount a third-party bid for the White House as a “centrist independent.” Such a potential run has irked Democrats and others, like fellow billionaire Michael Bloomberg, who believe a third-party bid could help hand the election to President Trump.
On Wednesday, while appearing on Morning Joe, Schultz acknowledged that criticism but expressed dismissiveness towards it.
“I must be doing something right to create so much interest and backlash from the Democratic Party,” he said. “Some of it is a surprise, but we expected to see some of the level of vitriol but not the extent it’s been."
Schultz punctuated his defiance of his critics by adding: “I don’t believe what the Democratic Party stands for.”
The billionaire also continued to his ongoing public feud with Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA)—who launched an exploratory committee earlier this month—revealing that he once denied her requests for a Senate campaign donation because she is a “socialist.”
“I don’t believe the country should be heading to socialism,” Schultz told Morning Joe.
He went on to criticize her proposal for a wealth tax that would increase marginal tax rates for top earners. “I think she believes in programs that will lead to a level of socialism in America,” the billionaire declared. “She’s a smart woman. I respect her, this isn’t personal. I just don’t agree with her.”
On Tuesday, Warren slammed the former Starbucks chief for “trying to buy the presidency” after he called her wealth tax “ridiculous” and nothing more than a “good headline” on NPR.
“What’s ‘ridiculous’ is billionaires who think they can buy the presidency to keep the system rigged for themselves while opportunity slips away for everyone else,” the senator responded on Twitter.
Schultz further responded Wednesday to Warren’s ridicule by suggesting that despite his immense wealth he greatly understands the needs of the average American.
“I’ve also been criticized for being a billionaire. Let’s talk about that: I’m self-made. I grew up in the projects in Brooklyn, New York,” the billionaire claimed. “I thought that was the American dream. The aspiration of America.”
Using the example of his multi-billion-dollar coffee empire, the former Starbucks CEO boasted that his company is the only firm “in America that gave comprehensive health insurance, equity in the form of stock options, and free college tuition.”
He concluded: “Elizabeth Warren wants to criticize me for being successful? No. It’s wrong.”
