General Electric CEO Jeff Immelt is not running for political office, but the Bernie Sanders camp is taking him on like he is the stunt double for Donald Trump these days. During the Democratic contender’s highly publicized meeting with the New York Daily News Editorial Board earlier this week, Sanders fired the first salvo against the standard-bearers of American capitalism, accusing some of the country’s biggest companies of “destroying the fabric of America.”
As noted in the transcript of the Daily News meeting, Bernie Sanders accused JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs, and other banks of “greed, recklessness, and illegal behavior.” He also took aim at General Electric for closing up shop in the United States and establishing operations abroad to save money.
“General Electric was created in this country by American workers and American consumers,” Sanders said. “What we have seen over the many years is shutting down of many major plants in this country. Sending jobs to low-wage countries. And General Electric, doing a very good job avoiding the taxes. In fact, in a given year, they pay nothing in taxes. That’s greed.”
Two days later, General Electric CEO Jeff Immelt responded to the remarks made by Sanders. In an article published by The Washington Post , Immelt repudiated the popular grass-roots candidate by taking issue with Bernie Sanders’ political underpinnings and reminding readers of his company’s accomplishments.
“G.E. has been in business for 124 years, and we’ve never been a big hit with socialists ,” Immelt wrote in comments re-published by Fortune . “We create wealth and jobs, instead of just calling for them in speeches. We take risks, invest, innovate and produce in ways that today sustain 125,000 U.S. jobs.”
The public dust-up between the two sides continued on Thursday when Warren Gunnels , a policy director for the Bernie Sanders campaign, issued a bluntly worded statement to CNN . It was an especially personal attack that chastised Immelt for his role in slashing jobs from General Electric’s American work force.
“If the CEO of General Electric wants to know how his company is destroying the fabric of America, he should take a good look in the mirror,” said Gunnels.
The Sanders campaign representative also alleged that Jeff Immelt is closely affiliated with an organization that lobbies Congress to cut social programs, while the CEO’s personal retirement package is worth millions.
On the heels of his bitter exchange with one of corporate America’s most influential leaders, Bernie Sanders also took it on the chin from Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman on Friday. In a piece published by The New York Times , Krugman noted that the Democratic candidate’s economic policies are heavy on slogans and light on substance. He also took exception to Bernie Sanders’ recent personal attacks on Hillary Clinton.
The race between Democratic contenders has become tense over the course of recent weeks, to be sure. Ahead of the New York primary elections on April 19, both Clinton and Sanders have traded nasty jabs over their respective qualifications for high office. According to polling data compiled by Real Clear Politics , Hillary Clinton has a formidable lead over Bernie Sanders at present. Both candidates have a history with regard to the Empire State. Bernie Sanders was born in Brooklyn and Hillary Clinton served as a senator for the state for eight years.
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