On Wednesday, former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz shot down an attack from Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), who said that because he is a billionaire, he is out of touch with America. He responded with a passionate defense of the American dream.
“Senator Elizabeth Warren said some pretty sharp words about me. She referred to me as a billionaire out of touch with the American people,” Schultz said in a short video. He told his rags-to-riches story succinctly and in a patriotic way.
“I grew up in Brooklyn, New York, in Canarsie, in federally subsidized housing, the projects. When I was 7 years old my father, who was a laborer, came home and had a serious accident. He was dismissed from his job, we lost our health insurance. I witnessed the fracturing of the American dream,” the former Starbucks CEO began.
Schultz witnessed failure early, but he did not let that define him.
“I started with nothing and I made it in America because of the aspiration, the magnetism, and the spirit of our country,” he declared. “I’ve always believed in the promise of the country. What is the promise of the country? What it is is regardless of your station in life, the color of your skin, your gender, your sexual orientation, whatever it might be, that everyone should have a chance in America.”
Then the former Starbucks CEO — who is mulling a 2020 presidential run as an independent — chided both Republicans and Democrats for failing to provide the leadership America needs.
“What we need right now in America is for the country to come together, and for the Democrats and Republicans who have been unwilling to work together, to finally realize that the American people deserve much more than political slogans and tweets,” he said. “What we need is a government that can work for us, leadership that we can trust.”
“And if I run for president, what I am going to try to do is restore the faith and the promise of the country and the American dream,” Schultz declared.
The former Starbucks CEO has attacked the Democratic Party for running too far to the Left, and even bringing the destructive ideology of socialism to America. Howard Schultz is too liberal for the Republican Party and, sadly, too pro-American for the Democratic Party.
Impassioned defenses of the American dream like this are Schultz’s path to shaming both Republicans and Democrats. There’s a tiny chance it may actually work, although Democrats might see in Schultz the very same “hate” they see in Trump. Many have started equating the very word “nationalism” with “white nationalism,” and lists of “microaggressions” have included statements like “America is a land of opportunity.”
Howard Schultz is not afraid to defend the American dream, and Democrats should learn from his decision to shirk their party.
Follow the author of this article on Twitter at @Tyler2ONeil.
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