Former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz, in an interview with Fox News, fired back Wednesday at Democrats who are fuming over the possibility he could launch an independent presidential bid and claiming such a move would boost President Trump in 2020.
“I think the Democrats need a little bit less caffeine right now,” Schultz said.
Speaking to Dana Perino on “The Daily Briefing,” Schultz said critics claiming he’d play a spoiler role by siphoning off Democratic votes are overreacting and claimed he is just as likely to draw moderate Republican voters from Trump.
“I think they’ve over-rotated completely because it’s very possible that if I run for president as a centrist independent that more lifelong Republicans will come my way than Democrats. So I think the whole thing is just an overreaction in 24 hours,” he said.
The Democratic pushback over Schultz’s possible independent presidential run began immediately after he told “60 Minutes” on Sunday that he was considering a bid for the White House. Since then, prominent Democrats from David Axelrod, the former adviser to then-President Barack Obama, to Tina Podlodowski, the Democratic Party chairwoman in Washington state, have all urged him not to launch a campaign.
“For somebody who is professing to be a lifelong Democrat, I think to be running as in independent in this particular cycle is not a wise thing to do,” Podlodowski said. – READ MORE