White House slams Bezos criticism of Biden tax comments

• Biden also recently met with Amazon labor organizers after their union victory.

How it happened: Bezos responded to Biden claiming inflation and corporate taxes aren't related.

• "Raising corp taxes is fine to discuss. Taming inflation is critical to discuss. Mushing them together is just misdirection," he tweeted.

What they're saying: "It doesn’t require a huge leap to figure out why one of the wealthiest individuals on Earth opposes an economic agenda for the middle class that cuts some of the biggest costs families face, fights inflation for the long haul, and adds to the historic deficit reduction the President is achieving by asking the richest taxpayers and corporations to pay their fair share," deputy White House press secretary Andrew Bates said in a statement per the Washington Post.

• "It’s also unsurprising that this tweet comes after the President met with labor organizers, including Amazon employees."

Bezos fired back shortly after, saying the White House is trying to "muddy the topic."

• "They know inflation hurts the neediest the most. But unions aren’t causing inflation and neither are wealthy people. Remember the Administration tried their best to add another $3.5 TRILLION to federal spending," he tweeted.
• "They failed, but if they had succeeded, inflation would be even higher than it is today, and inflation today is at a 40 year high."

Worth noting: Bezos publicly backed using long-term corporate tax hikes to support Biden's $2 trillion infrastructure plan in April last year.

The big picture: Most economists say raising corporate taxes would reduce inflation, though it would not necessarily have a huge impact, AP reports.