Biden and Bezos butt heads

Funny what a touch of punctuation could’ve done to that title, right?   

Clapping back 

The White House and Jeff Bezos aren’t exactly a match made in heaven. And the conflict of interests was made plain for all to see last week on – where else – Twitter, after Bezos took a swing at a tweet from Biden that said, “You want to bring down inflation? Let’s make sure the wealthiest corporations pay their fair share.” 

Oh, you bet Bezos didn’t like that one. His barbed retort claimed that “The newly created Disinformation Board should review this tweet”, and that “Mushing [corporation tax and inflation] together is just misdirection.”  So, it looks like there’s trouble at the top table.    

Throwing shade  

As you’d expect, it doesn’t look like either side is backing down in the latest social media spat for the ages. While Biden is on the offensive as the cost-of-living crisis bites, Bezos has been quick to call BS. Biden claimed that the US was headed towards its largest yearly deficit decline ever, and his predecessor took a hit as collateral damage when Biden added that Trump saw the deficit “increase every single year”.  

Bezos’ response was to claim that “inflation is a regressive tax that most hurts the least affluent”, along with another dig about ‘misdirection’. But the White House has a trump card when it comes to lining up Jeff for a KO shot, and that’s the fact that he’s, you know, the second richest guy on the planet.  

“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”, began the statement from White House spokesperson Andrew Bates. “It’s also unsurprising that this tweet comes after the President met with labor organizers, including Amazon employees.” Game, set, and match? Not quite yet, we fancy.