Angry Democrats call for Starbucks boycott after ex-CEO touts independent presidential run

Democrats have ganged up on former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz, threatening to make him a “target” and ditch their morning coffee amid fears he can chip away at portions of Democratic with an independent 2020 presidential bid.

Schultz is facing backlash from both establishment Democrats and the wider left-wing camp after he told 60 Minutes’ Scott Pelley on Sunday that he was “seriously thinking of running for president as a centrist independent.” Schultz, a lifelong Democrat, has thrown his weight behind many anti-Trump causes – such as hiring 10,000 refugees in response to President Donald Trump’s “Muslim ban”. But the announcement has ruffled feathers with many in the anti-Trump crowd, who have now turned against him.

Justifying his decision, Schultz said that he believes that the both major parties are “consistently not doing what’s necessary on behalf of the American people” and have instead become well-versed in “revenge politics.”

He argued that the partial government shutdown that cost the US economy a mind-boggling $11 billion according to one estimate – almost double the cost of Trump’s proposed border wall – is “a reckless failure” of both the GOP and the Democrats.

In what appears to be a swipe directed at Schultz, Democratic mega-donor and former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg issued a statement arguing that an independent candidate would deal a crucial blow to the prospects of Democrats taking over the White House in 2020, effectively helping Trump to extend his time in the office.

“The great likelihood is that an independent would just split the anti-Trump vote and end up re-electing the President,” Bloomberg stated, noting that the same concerns forced him to drop an independent bid in the past.

Priorities USA, the largest Democratic Party super PAC, has also come with a stern rebuke against Schultz, vowing to do everything to destroy his campaign if decides to run.

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"If Schultz entered the race as an independent, we would consider him a target... We would do everything we can to ensure that his candidacy is unsuccessful," said its executive director, Patrick McHugh.

The PAC, initially set up to support former president Barack Obama’s reelection campaign, invested heavily in Hillary Clinton in run-up of her 2016 elections debacle.

Taking opposition to Schultz one step further, a host of prominent left-wing activists in the anti-Trump #Resistance crowd proposed to boycott the coffeehouse chain to coerce Shultz, who is still its largest shareholder, into dropping his bid. After stepping down as the CEO of the chain in June last year, Shultz remains the owner of some 33 million shares of Starbucks directly and another 1.7 million shares indirectly.

The boycott call has been championed by the Center for American Progress, a think-tank founded by Clinton confidant John Podesta.

“I will start a Starbucks boycott because I’m not giving a penny that will end up in the election coffers of a guy who will help Trump win,” CAP’s president Neera Tanden tweeted.

It was echoed by Ian Millhiser, columnist at CAP-run ThinkProgress, tweeting that all major progressive groups will weaponize their email lists to promote a Starbucks boycott.

The Washington Post’s Aaron Blake chimed in, as well several prominent members of the anti-Trump resistance.

There were, however, some voices of reason, arguing that proposed boycott would be inefficient to torpedo Schultz’s candidacy and difficult to actually organize. After all, coffee-lovers would have to disrupt their morning routines and ditch Starbucks for it.

Shultz appeared to have responded to the outcry on Sunday, stating on Twitter that hence “both parties at the extreme and not representing the silent majority,” there is no better way to give a “better choice” instead of status quo. He said he would be touring the country, meeting with voters in the next few months.

A poll ran by Ipsos and the Daily Beast in June, long before Shultz teased his intention to run, found that celebrities and business moguls are not favored by Americans as their next president. Only 18 percent total said that had a favorable opinion of Shultz, including 19 percent of Democrats and 22 percent of Republicans. He scored even less points with Independents, with only 12 percent saying they had a favorable opinion of him at the time.

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