WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Amazon.com’s social media team showed its teeth this week to go after two major critics in Congress: Senators Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren.
Amazon first attacked on Wednesday with tweets from Dave Clark, chief executive of Amazon’s global consumer company, who criticized Sanders for pushing for a $ 15 minimum wage and supporting Amazon workers in Alabama who are considering joining a union.
On Friday, the day Sanders met with Amazon workers in Alabama, Amazon News tweeted that the minimum wage for Vermont, in Sanders’ home state, was $ 11.75. “Sanders would rather speak in Alabama than act in Vermont,” tweeted the company.
At his meeting, Sanders urged Amazon workers to vote for the union: “When you stand up and fight, you are facing here not only one of the most powerful corporations in this country, you are facing the richest individuals in the world. And you are doing this in an anti-union state. “
The company also went after Warren, who promised on Twitter that she “would fight her union breakdown. And fight to end Big Tech so that you are not powerful enough to bother senators with arrogant tweets. “
She initially asked that Amazon be spun off, along with other Big Tech giants, in 2019, when she was running for president.
Amazon called its tweet “extraordinary and revealing”.
“One of the most powerful politicians in the United States has just said he is going to break an American company so that they can no longer criticize it,” tweeted Amazon.
Amazon did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Neither Sanders nor Warren’s offices responded immediately to a request for comment.
It may not be just Amazon losing patience with pressure from Washington.
At a congressional hearing on Thursday, Twitter Chief Executive Jack Dorsey apparently was frustrated with lawmakers pushing for yes or no answers to questions. During the hearing, Dorsey tweeted “?” with a poll asking Twitter users to vote “yes” or “no”.
Democratic representative Kathleen Rice asked, “Mr. Dorsey, what are you getting, yes or no, in the poll on your Twitter account? “
Dorsey told her that “yes” was winning, to which she replied, “Your multitasking skills are quite impressive.”
Reporting by Diane Bartz; edition by Jonathan Oatis