The Daily Populous Friday May 22nd, 2026 morning edition
Authored by usatoday.com and submitted by thejoshwhite

May 21, 2026, 9:12 a.m. ET

From Jeff Bezos to Ken Griffin, billionaires have disagreed with Zohran Mamdani's tax policies.

Now the mayor is disagreeing with Bezos' tax theory.

Bezos, in an interview, said that he could pay more in taxes, but that it wouldn't help a hypothetical teacher in Queens.

Bezos joined CNBC this week and offered his opinion on how taxes should be handled in the U.S., suggesting the bottom half of earners should pay 0% in income taxes.

"Why is a nurse in Queens who makes $75,000 a year paying more than $1,000 a month in taxes," Bezos told the interviewer, Andrew Ross Sorkin.

"The bottom half of income earners in this country pay only 3 percent of the taxes. It’s only 3 percent. We can find 3 percent."

Unlike Griffin, Bezos said that Mamdani's new pied-à-terre tax proposal — which targets wealthier residents — is a "fine thing for New York to do." But he said that villainizing billionaires like Griffin was the wrong way to go about it.

"When you don’t know how to solve a problem, create a villain, blame them, but it won’t solve the problem. The only thing that will solve the problem is skill," he said.

Mamdani, who has centered much of his strategies on saving everyday New Yorkers money by bumping taxes on corporations and the ultra wealthy, shot back at Bezos' theory that his taxes would directly impact others.

"I pay billions of dollars in taxes. ...If people want me to pay more billions, then let’s have that debate. But don’t pretend... that that’s going to solve the problem" Bezos said.

"You could double the taxes I pay and it’s not going to help that teacher in Queens, I promise you."

In a post on X, Mamdani responded simply: "I know a few teachers in Queens who would beg to differ."

themattboard on May 21st, 2026 at 18:32 UTC »

Mom who wants to eat all the ice cream tells her child its spicy

Solonohioperson on May 21st, 2026 at 18:32 UTC »

Oh well. Tax him anyway and let's find out!

td192020 on May 21st, 2026 at 18:31 UTC »

“Bezos said villainising billionaires is the wrong approach to solving fiscal problems”

Let me stop you right there… I don’t give a fuck. You’re still a villain in my eyes. No matter how much horse shit you spew.