Schultz heckled at first campaign appearance: ‘Don’t help elect Trump’

Howard Schultz was heckled Monday night at an event as he discussed his plans for a potential 2020 third-party presidential bid.

The former Starbucks CEO was interrupted during an interview at a promotional tour stop at a Manhattan bookstore by a protester who warned Schultz could help reelect President Trump.

“Don’t help elect Trump, you egotistical billionaire asshole!” the unidentified man said, according to video of the incident.

“Go back to getting ratioed on Twitter. Go back to Davos with the other billionaire elite who think they know how to run the world!” he added.

Here’s the video. A heckler shouts at Howard Schultz during an event in New York: “Don’t help elect Trump, you egotistical, billionaire asshole.” Via CNN pic.twitter.com/oabwfNnsmp

— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) January 28, 2019

Schultz earlier announced his plans to possibly run as an independent candidate in the 2020 presidential election, saying he is dissatisfied with increasing polarization between America’s two main political parties.

{mosads}“We’re living at a most fragile time,” Schultz told CBS News in an interview that aired Sunday. “Not only the fact that this president is not qualified to be the president, but the fact that both parties are consistently not doing what’s necessary on behalf of the American people and are engaged, every single day, in revenge politics.”

Schultz also responded to doubts about his ability to win in an interview with The New York Times on Sunday, addressing similar criticism from high-profile Democrats and former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg (D), who have stated that an independent would have no chance in a general election.

“I am certainly prepared for the cynics and the naysayers to come out and say this cannot be done,” Schultz said. “I don’t agree with them. I think it’s un-American to say it can’t be done.”