Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) responded to criticism from former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz Wednesday by wondering on Twitter, “Why don’t people ever tell billionaires who want to run for President that they need to ‘work their way up’ or that ‘maybe they should start with city council first’?”
Why don’t people ever tell billionaires who want to run for President that they need to “work their way up” or that “maybe they should start with city council first”? https://t.co/3d8Nenrvl5
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) January 30, 2019
Her tweet was in response to Schultz’s comments criticizing her proposed tax increases on the wealthy and even citing them as the reason he’s considering a 2020 presidential run as an Independent rather than a Democrat.
In a follow-up tweet responding to a critic, Ocasio-Cortez explained that she was discouraged from running at all despite her relevant experience.
“This bartender” has served in a Senate casework office, organized & educated 1000s of young people, earned relevant degrees w/ honors, worked on field campaigns, and the only reason I wasn’t told to run for city council was because I was consistently told not to run at all. https://t.co/MOzOtP9Xhd
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) January 30, 2019
However, as some pointed out on Twitter, Shultz did “work his way up” from a very difficult background.
Schultz grew up in the projects, was the first of his family to go to college, and turned a tiny coffeeshop into a multi-billion dollar company. How much more should he “work his way up?” https://t.co/JfqAfwxgXK
— Dana Loesch (@DLoesch) January 30, 2019
Howard Schultz grew up dirt poor in a Brooklyn housing project. You’re from Westchester! https://t.co/gVq09qWjkV
— Katie Pavlich (@KatiePavlich) January 30, 2019
Schultz was born in federally subsidized housing in Brooklyn and was the first person to graduate college in his family attending Northern Michigan University on a football scholarship. He worked his way through the ranks at Starbucks and eventually bought the company and became CEO.
Former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz: "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. I thought that was the American dream. The aspiration of America." https://t.co/bQP4w60eFT
— MSNBC (@MSNBC) January 30, 2019