US: Ex-Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz considering Presidential run in 2020 as independent; aims to oust Trump

Schultz said that he will be running as a centrist independent outside of the two-party system, even though he has often described self as lifelong Democrat.

Former Chairman and CEO of Starbucks, Howard Schultz, (Photo by Johannes EISELE / AFP)

New Delhi: Former Chief Executive Officer of the global coffee chain Starbucks and a US billionaire Howard Schultz announced his presidential bid on Sunday for 2020 polls. He said in a TV interview that he is looking into running against Donald Trump in the US presidential elections as an independent candidate. In a news show on CBS late Sunday, Schultz was seen saying: “I am seriously thinking of running for president.” He said that he will be running as a centrist independent outside of the two-party system, even though he has often described self as lifelong Democrat. The 65-year-old billionaire said that not only is Trump “not qualified to be the president,” but Republicans and Democrats “are consistently not doing what’s necessary on behalf of the American people and are engaged, every single day, in revenge politics.”

Schultz who grew up in a working class neighbourhood in New York city, but made it big after he moved to Washington in the 1980s and built starbucks into a global coffee giant. There were apprehensions that Schultz’s bid could split the opposition vote and result in a second term for Trump, which were however dismissed by him. He said in the interview, “I want to see the American people win. I want to see America win.”