Warren Faces Backlash for Calling on Bezos to Pay More Taxes After Met Gala Sponsorship

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., faced sharp criticism Monday after posting on X that Amazon founder Jeff Bezos should pay more taxes because he sponsored the Met Gala. Conservatives questioned her record and accused her of misrepresenting facts.

"The answer to everything, up to and apparently including bankrupting an airline at the cost of something like 15,000 jobs and the entire concept of budget airfare, is ‘Jeff Bezos has a lot of money though,’" venture capitalist Mike Solana wrote in response to Warren's post.

Solana referred to the recent collapse of Spirit Airlines. Conservative commentators said Spirit could have survived if Warren had not pushed to block JetBlue's acquisition of the budget carrier on antitrust grounds in 2024.

"If Jeff Bezos can drop $10 million to sponsor the Met Gala, he can afford to pay his fair share in taxes," Warren said on Monday, prompting widespread pushback from social media users.

After news broke that Bezos wrote an eight-figure check for the Met Gala, actors Mark Ruffalo and Taraji P. Henson joined Warren in attacking Amazon and Bezos over their business practices. Protesters gathered outside the gala on Monday with signs targeting Bezos. One was detained after trying to break into the event.

Warren's post drew online fire as users cited Spirit Airlines' failure and her past tax policies. "Jeff Bezos employs over 1.5 million people at Amazon," X user Gina Milan wrote. "You’re responsible for 17,000 workers losing their jobs and for blocking the merger that ultimately killed Spirit Airlines."

Spirit Airlines kept fares low across the industry, and its closure could raise travel prices overall, analysts told USA Today. The shutdown will cost about 15,000 direct jobs and 2,000 indirect ones.

"This myth just won't die," Reason Magazine reporter Billy Binion posted in reply to Warren's claim that Bezos does not pay enough taxes. "In 2024 alone, it's estimated Jeff Bezos paid almost $3 billion in taxes. Painting rich people as tax avoiders plays great on social media, but it's not reality. The U.S. has the most progressive tax system in the developed world."

Forbes estimated Bezos paid $2.7 billion in taxes in 2024 after selling $13.6 billion in Amazon stock. He lowered his tax bill that year with $2.5 billion in Amazon shares donated to charity over the previous three years. ProPublica found he paid nearly $1 billion in taxes from 2014 to 2018.

Billionaires like Bezos often borrow against their stock holdings for cash, avoiding income taxes since the IRS does not count loans as income, according to ProPublica reviews of securities filings.

Some social media users pressed Warren for details on Bezos's "fair share." "What’s his fair share?" Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, asked. "What tax rate?"

Warren has proposed a wealth tax of 6% annually on households worth more than $1 billion and 2% on those between $50 million and $1 billion. The tax would hit unrealized gains on assets, a source of much billionaire wealth growth.

Writer Mike Coté noted Bezos is "so rich that he can simply leave the jurisdiction or get citizenship elsewhere" if the tax became law. "Liz Warren does not want progressive taxation," he added. "She wants confiscatory taxation. It's fundamentally un-American. And it doesn't work."

Warren's office did not respond to a Fox News Digital request for comment sent Tuesday morning.