Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Massachusetts Democrat, told Amazon she wants to break up Big Tech so that the company cannot heckle her on the internet.
Ms. Warren scrapped with Amazon via Twitter and cited the company’s tweets as fuel for her desired crackdown on Amazon.
“I didn’t write the loopholes you exploit, @amazon — your armies of lawyers and lobbyists did. But you bet I’ll fight to make you pay your fair share,” Ms. Warren tweeted late Thursday. “And fight your union-busting. And fight to break up Big Tech so you’re not powerful enough to heckle senators with snotty tweets.”
Ms. Warren’s late-night jab was in response to Amazon’s taking issue with her commentary on Amazon’s tax obligations. Ms. Warren tweeted Thursday afternoon that corporations such as Amazon “pay close to nothing in taxes” and she thinks it is time for that to change.
Amazon replied in a series of tweets to Ms. Warren detailing their tax expenditures and ribbing Ms. Warren’s alleged prioritization of the tax code over raising the federal minimum wage.
“You make the tax laws @SenWarren; we just follow them. If you don’t like the laws you’ve created, by all means, change them,” said Amazon via its @amazonnews account on Twitter. “Here are the facts: Amazon has paid billions of dollars in corporate taxes over the past few years alone.”
Ms. Warren’s response to Amazon taking issue with the company’s “snotty tweets” also did not stop others from posting snarky responses to her.
“Lol I’m pretty sure literally every American is powerful enough to heckle you with snotty tweets,” Rep. Dan Crenshaw, Texas Republican, said to Ms. Warren on Twitter on Friday. “Nice grandstanding though. Really stuck it to em.”
Amazon replied to Ms. Warren again Friday afternoon to call attention to Ms. Warren’s pledge to crack down on Amazon.
“This is extraordinary and revealing. One of the most powerful politicians in the United States just said she’s going to break up an American company so they can’t criticize her anymore,” Amazon tweeted.
• Ryan Lovelace can be reached at rlovelace@washingtontimes.com.
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