If former President Obama's accusation that American owners "didn't build that" when it comes to their own hard work and success wasn't insulting enough, enter N.Y. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who compared wealthy business owners and CEOs to slaveowners during an MLK event Monday.
“You didn't make those widgets, did you?” AOC said of wealthy business owners. “Because you employed thousands of people and paid them less than a living wage to make those widgets for you.”
“You didn't make those widgets,” she continued to applause from the crowd. “You sat on a couch while thousands of people were paid modern-day slave wages, and in some cases real slave, real modern-day slavery, depending on where you are in terms of food production. You made that money off of the backs of undocumented people, you made that money off of the backs of black and brown people being paid off a living wage — under a living wage. You made that money off of the backs of single mothers, and all of these people who are literally dying because they can't afford to live.”
“And so, no one ever makes a billion dollars. You take a billion dollars,” she accused.
AOC on why successful businessmen don’t deserve their wealth: “You didn’t make those widgets! You sat on a couch while thousands of people were paid modern day slave wages, and in some cases real modern-day slavery; you made that money off the backs of undocumented people ..." pic.twitter.com/Y2w3nSfezo
— Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) January 20, 2020
AOC went on to tell billionaires that she doesn't want their money, but rather their "power."
"To be ethical, if you're a billionaire today, the thing that you need to do is give up control and power. So I don't want your money as much as we want your power," she said, before quickly correcting herself, "the people, not me."
"That's gonna get cut and clipped," she laughed.
AOC to billionaires:
— The Daily Wire (@realDailyWire) January 20, 2020
To be ethical you need to give up control and power. So I don’t want your money as much as we want your power. The people, not me. pic.twitter.com/cmwlLTPXZm
And on that note, I"ll point you to what's commonly referred to as a "Freudian slip" -- or, more colloquially, "accidentally telling the truth."