Former Starbucks CEO apologizes to Rep. Tulsi Gabbard and second candidate after military remark
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz, shown here speaking at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Ind. in February, apologized today for saying he had likely spent more time with the military than the other presidential candidates. Two Democrats, including Hawaii’s Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, have served overseas in the military.
BRUCE ASATO / FEB. 2
U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii announced her candidacy for the Democratic presidential nomination last month at the Great Lawn of the Hilton Hawaiian Village Resort in Waikiki.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
South Bend, Ind. Mayor Pete Buttigieg talks with a reporter at his office in South Bend, Ind., in January.
SEATTLE >> Former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz, who is considering an independent bid for president, is apologizing for saying he had likely spent more time with the military than the other candidates.
Schultz made the comments during an interview today with conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt. Two Democratic candidates are veterans, Rep. Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii and South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg.
Afterward, Schultz tweeted that leaders must accept responsibility for mistakes and his comment “was wrong.”
Gabbard, a major in the Hawaii Army National Guard, served in Iraq and Kuwait; Buttigieg is a veteran of the Afghanistan War, having served a tour with the Navy Reserve.
Buttigieg tweeted that he didn’t “recall seeing any Starbucks over there.”
During his time at Starbucks, the company pledged to hire more veterans and last year said it had hired 21,000 over five years.
