Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez calls out Trump after news that Amazon plans to hire 1,500 employees in New York City
- Ocasio-Cortez tweeted Friday that Trump should focus more on getting rid of tax incentives for billionaires after news emerged that Amazon plans to open an office in New York City.
- In February, Amazon cancelled its original plans to add 25,000 jobs in New York after local politicians - including Ocasio-Cortez - criticized the deal, which would have given Amazon more than $1.5 billion in tax incentives.
- During a speech in July, Trump had blamed Ocasio-Cortez for Amazon's decision to cancel the proposed move.
- In her tweet, Ocasio-Cortez suggested that her criticism of the deal was warranted given Amazon's decision to open an office in New York.
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After the Wall Street Journal reported Friday that Amazon plans to open a new office in New York City, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez tweeted that the Trump administration "should focus more on cutting public assistance to billionaires instead of poor families."
Ocasio-Cortez had been a vocal opponent of Amazon's original plans to set up shop in New York City, which prompted city officials to offer the company more than $1.5 billion in tax incentives.
Facing intense pushback from Ocasio-Cortez and other local politicians, Amazon announced in February that it would not continue with its proposed expansion. At the time, many New Yorkers blamed those same politicians for causing the company to withdraw and thus costing the city thousands of jobs.
In a July speech, President Trump called out Ocasio-Cortez specifically, saying that she "kept Amazon out of New York."
In response to Friday's news that Amazon has secured a lease in Hudson Yards, Ocasio-Cortez took to Twitter to double down on her previous criticism and call out the Trump administration for defending the previous tax-incentive-based deal.
Amazon told Business Insider on Friday that it will not receive any special tax benefits for the new office. But the new office is significantly smaller than what HQ2 was projected to be, and it may even have been a project that had been in the works by Amazon all along.
