The phrase “tax the rich” can be “just as hateful as some disgusting racial slurs”, according to the New York City billionaire Steve Roth, who said that the top 1% should be “praised and thanked”.
Speaking on his company’s quarterly earnings call on Tuesday, Roth, the CEO of Vornado Realty Trust, expressed his support for fellow billionaire and the CEO of Citadel, Ken Griffin, who was singled out in the 15 April announcement by New York’s mayor, Zohran Mamdani, of the state’s first “pied-à-terre” tax on second homes valued at more than $5m. In a video, Mamdani announced the policy in front of Griffin’s penthouse, which he said was purchased for $238m.
“We are all shocked that our young mayor would pull this stunt in front of Ken’s home and single him out for ridicule,” Roth said. “This was both irresponsible and dangerous.”
Edit: Mamdani’s video that sparked this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FLKZnVB4F9k
Well he’s not wrong, it’s definitely hateful. We don’t say it because we think it’s fair they get billions and we have to scrape by while doing the actual work.
Are both of the following hateful?
Tax the rich - at 1%
Tax the rich - at 99%
That doesn’t make it hateful in the sense that it has been used recently. It’s just a normal response to someone’s horrible behaviour.