Sanders, Warren Campaigns Spend the Most On Amazon While Trashing It
- Stridency of rhetoric tends to correlate with size of outlays
- Trump is fourth-biggest spender, despite anti-Amazon tweets
Democratic presidential hopefuls Senator Bernie Sanders and Senator Elizabeth Warren at the second Democratic primary debate.
Photographer: Brendan Smialowski/Getty Images
During the Democratic presidential debate in Los Angeles last week, Senator Elizabeth Warren once again made her position on Amazon.com Inc. clear. “You know what unites my three brothers?” she asked, noting that one is a Democrat, the other two Republicans. “Amazon. They are furious that Amazon reported $10 billion in profits and paid zero in taxes.”
Warren may have the most developed plan to curtail Amazon -- it involves breaking up the company -- but she is far from alone in targeting the Seattle leviathan for political and policy purposes. Her fellow Democrat, Senator Bernie Sanders, has hammered Amazon on the campaign trail. And, of course, President Donald Trump has launched what is perceived in some quarters as a political vendetta against the company and Chief Executive Officer Jeff Bezos.