Starbucks' Howard Schultz: 'Big Difference' Between My Qualifications And Trump's
(CNN Money) -- Outgoing Starbucks Executive Chairman Howard Schultz won't say for sure whether he's going to run for president. But he implied he's more qualified for the job than the business executive who currently holds the title.
"There is very big difference between someone who has run a global enterprise like myself, who has traveled to China probably more than any other CEO in the last 10 years, and who understands those issues, versus someone who has run a private company with very little fiduciary responsibilities to other shareholders," he said in an interview Tuesday on CNBC.
Related: Howard Schultz: We need to talk about race in America
Schultz was very critical of President Donald Trump and the state of American politics and government. He said that while "President Trump has given license to the fact that someone who is not a politician could potentially run for the presidency," he stopped short of confirming that he is going to run himself. "I can't be nailed down today on what I might or might not run for."
He did say that he wants to be involved in public service to help bring the country together and to fix the budgetary process in Washington.
"My concern (is) for the country. I think we can do much better. I think the political class as a whole has been reckless," he said.
Related: Howard Schultz steps down at Starbucks
Schultz also dismissed a comment by presidential historian Douglas Brinkley that previous CEOs have fared poorly as president. "The history of business leaders in the White House has not been good. ... You basically have Herbert Hoover and Donald Trump," Brinkley told The New York Times.
"I think the rules of engagement for running the United States of America in a global society are very different from comparing (them) to Hoover or the current president," Schultz told CNBC.
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