Former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz, who is considering running for president in 2020 as an independent, managed to alienate most Republicans and Democrats during his CNN townhall on Tuesday night in the span of only a few minutes.
Schultz, a lifelong Democrat, enraged the Left while he was responding to a question that centered around an incident at a Philadelphia Starbucks last year when two black men were arrested on trespassing charges in what quickly became a major national story.
While speaking on the incident, Schultz said: “As somebody who grew up in a very diverse background as a young boy in the projects, I didn’t see color as a young boy and I honestly don’t see color now.”
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Schultz’s remarks immediately outraged the political Left, with many suggesting that his comments embodied racism. Here are just a few of the responses Schultz’s remarks elicited on Twitter:
- Susie: “howard schultz is like if you created a candidate in a factory 20 years ago that was intended to be as inoffensive as possible to everyone so that it could win down the middle but just seems tone deaf, dull & off-putting now.”
- Elad Nehorai: “Oh boy. Good thing a major network didn’t give this guy free air time. That would have been embarrassing.”
- Scott Bixby: “Curious if this approach was used when Starbucks closed 8,000 locations to address systemic racism.”
- Sean Illing: “That CNN gave this billionaire dilettante a prime time town hall tells you everything you need to know about, well, CNN”
- Amy Davis Roth: “I’m so rich all I can see is the color of money. Humans just look like crinkled numbers to me now.”
- Shannon Sharpe: “He’s telling a BOLD FACE LIE unless he’s color blind. Seeing color isn’t the problem , reaction to and how you treat color is.”
- Bari A. Williams: “And what does being from the projects have to do with his statement on not seeing color, unless you only equate ‘projects,’ and/or euphemisms for ‘ghetto,’ with people of color?”
Moments later, Schultz managed to turn off those on the political Right when he revealed what he considered to be “centrist” views on gun control.
Schultz said he wanted to find a “sensible approach to removing” semi-automatic firearms from law-abiding citizens because he believes that semi-automatic firearms have “no place in common society.”
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Schultz’s comments turned off those on the political Right, although not to the same extent, as many on the political Right view Schultz as a Democrat and therefore are not surprised by his views. Below are a few of the responses from the Right to Schultz’s remarks:
- Cam Edwards: “Yeah, that bit about finding a way to take the guns owned by millions of Americans was sandwiched between ‘I support the 2nd Amendment’ and ‘I’m a centrist’. No you don’t and no you’re not.”
- Joe Bursley: “And just like that, every moderate Republican considering voting for Schultz over Trump in 2020 (including myself, I’ll admit) switched back immediately.”
- Dan Gainor: “Good luck. He is welcome to take them one bullet at a time.”
- Art Tavana: “We need town halls that focus on #2A issues to make sure candidates like Shultz are more educated about firearms, gun laws, etc. Basic ignorance like could be avoided if you invite @DLoesch, who actually knows a thing or two about the subject.”
- Stephen Burr: “Welp, there goes the 2% chance that I would have voted for him if he had made it to the general election.”