Jeff Bezos's speech after his trip in space onboard a Blue Origin spacecraft has received widespread criticism. Bezos said that his trip wouldn't have been possible without his employees and Amazon customers; a gesture that wasn't received well by most people.
Apart from thanking his employees and customers, Bezos said all of them had actually paid for the flight. Online users were quick to react to Bezos' statements. Some had criticized his vast wealth, while others ridiculed his inability to "read the room." One journalist responded to a video of his speech by saying that he wanted a refund.
"[I] want to thank every Amazon employee and every Amazon customer because you guys paid for all this. So seriously, for every Amazon customer out there, and every Amazon employee, thank you from the bottom of my heart, very much," Bezos said Wednesday after returning to earth from his trip.
Bezos briefly flew into space aboard Blue Origin's New Shepard spacecraft. He was accompanied by his younger brother Mark Bezos, aviation pioneer Mary Wallace Funk and Dutch teenager Oliver Daemen. The Blue Origin spacecraft lifted off into space on the 52nd anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing from the desert in Van Horn County, Texas.
i'd like a refund. https://t.co/mBPczAmpPm — David Choi (@choibboy) July 20, 2021
After he delivered his speech, Bezos was roasted by critics for his "insensitive" comments. The New York Daily News said that one seat on the flight may have cost around $28 million.
U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren used the opportunity to push her agenda of taxing the rich. She had previously accused Bezos and his company of paying no taxes despite earning billions.
"Jeff Bezos forgot to thank all the hardworking Americans who actually paid taxes to keep this country running while he and Amazon paid nothing," Warren said in a post on social media.
Bezos is currently worth an estimated $177 billion. Canada's far-left New Democratic Party said that with the amount of money he is earning per second, Bezos got about $1.6 million richer during the 11-minute flight. The party pointed out the number in a post, while also accusing Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of allowing Amazon to pay "zero in taxes."
