Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner (D) launched a sharp attack on Amazon founder Jeff Bezos on Monday, accusing the billionaire of peddling propaganda to shield himself and fellow ultra-wealthy allies from higher taxes.
Appearing on MS NOW alongside Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Platner dismissed Bezos’s recent claim that raising taxes on the rich would do little to help everyday Americans. “I think it’s abject nonsense,” Platner said. “That’s what somebody says when they don’t want to see their taxes go up.”
Bezos, now the world’s fourth-richest person with a net worth of $273.4 billion, argued on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” last week that the bottom half of earners should pay zero federal income tax, rather than targeting the wealthy. “You could double the taxes I pay, and it’s not going to help that teacher in Queens,” he said.
But Platner countered that the data tells a different story. The bottom half of taxpayers account for just 3% of federal individual income tax revenue, while the top 1% pay roughly 40%, according to the Tax Foundation. Meanwhile, the bottom half earned an average of less than $54,000 in 2023. Critics have seized on Bezos’s Queens teacher remark as a straw man, arguing that targeted wealth taxes could indeed transform public services.
Platner, who is challenging incumbent Senator Susan Collins (R-Maine), has built his campaign around affordability and progressive tax reform. Last month, he unveiled a plan that includes a 5% wealth tax on fortunes over $1 billion and a federal income tax exemption for working- and middle-class families, as reported by Maine Public Radio.
“There’s absolutely no question that if we target the wealth where it has been hoarded for decades and pull it back into our system—into health care, child care, paying teachers what they’re worth—we will absolutely improve the lives of working Americans,” Platner said Monday.
He went further, accusing Bezos of spreading “propaganda” to protect himself and his “crony friends.” The remark echoes broader progressive frustration with the billionaire class, a theme Sanders has championed for decades. In March, Sanders and Representative Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) proposed a 5% annual wealth tax on the nation’s 938 billionaires, who collectively own $8.2 trillion. The bill would generate an estimated $4.4 trillion in its first year, funding a $3,000 direct payment to every household earning under $150,000 annually.
“There is so much inequality right now that taxes on billionaires can transform life for the working class, which is struggling to pay the bills,” Sanders said on MS NOW.
Platner’s critique comes amid a broader debate over wealth concentration and tax policy, with Bezos’s political evolution drawing scrutiny. The Amazon founder has recently praised former President Donald Trump’s second-term maturity, even as Trump’s approval ratings hit record lows. Platner’s campaign has also taken aim at Collins for dodging questions on key issues, including Iran policy during a recent hearing.
As the Maine Senate race heats up, Platner is betting that a sharp contrast with the billionaire class and a focus on economic fairness will resonate with voters who feel left behind by decades of widening inequality.
