Bernie Sanders has hit back at a billionaire investor who went viral after complaining about possible new tax hikes targeting Wall Street investors.
In an interview with CNBC, Leon Cooperman, a billionaire hedge fund investor, described calls to redistribute Wall Street wealth by making investors pay higher tax rates as a ‘bullsh*t concept’ and ‘a way of attacking wealthy people”
It’s fair to say that Sanders wasn’t exactly impressed with what Cooperman – who is thought to be worth around $3 billion – had to say. The Vermont senator took to Twitter to respond to the Wall Street big-wig, offering his views in typical Bernie fashion, posting, ‘Oh look, another billionaire is mad that he might have to pay more taxes while children in America go hungry and veterans sleep on the street. Cry me a river.’
In his tweet, Sanders made no bones about the Democrats’ plans to introduce increased rates of tax for the ultra-wealthy, confirming, ‘Yes. We will make Wall Street billionaires pay their fair share of taxes and create an economy that works for all of us.’
Cooperman, who in 2016 was charged with insider trading by the Securities and Exchange Commission, made the comments while discussing the ongoing GameStop saga, which has seen some hedge funds lose billions at the hands of Reddit investors successfully playing them at their own game.
In the interview, Cooperman criticised the amateur investors for destabilising the market, describing them as people ‘sitting at home, getting their checks from the government’. The focus on the stock market this week has led to renewed calls to tackle growing inequality in the United States and what’s often seen as the hoarding of wealth by Wall Street.
Over the years, Sanders – who currently chairs the Senate Budget Committee – has introduced several proposals to tax Wall Street traders in order to pay for public services like Medicare for All and free college tuition. Experts have said that President Joe Biden’s picks to lead the government’s top financial agencies suggest that his administration could be set to take a tougher stance when it comes to Wall Street regulations.
The former presidential candidate wasn’t the only person who didn’t appreciate Cooperman’s comments. Viewers took to social media to label the hedge fund billionaire an ‘incredible crybaby’, while someone else took it upon themselves to edit Cooperman’s Wikipedia entry, changing his name to ‘Leon Pooperman’.
This article originally appeared on UNILAD.