‘You Didn’t Answer Me!’: CNBC Host Clashes With Sen. Elizabeth Warren Over ‘Ultra-Millionaire Tax’ Proposal

CNBC host Joe Kernan clashed with Democratic Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren on Tuesday over her proposed “Ultra-Millionaire Tax.”

Warren was questioned by Kernan while appearing on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” over the annual tax rates in her proposal and why they seem to be arbitrarily set at the determined levels of 2% and 3%.

Kernan began by verifying that Warren didn’t think the rich people she wants to tax had “broken any laws to accrue all this wealth” and that the tax proposal wasn’t “punitive.”

He then asked why the tax rates weren’t more “progressive” and set at higher rates if it was decided that those subject to the tax had already “crossed the rubicon” into having “more money than you can ever spend.”

“Why not make it truly progressive and do 10% at a billion? Do 20% at a billion. Why not do it that way? … What would be the problem?” he asked.

Warren responded by saying that she’s “just a girl from Oklahoma” and that “$3 trillion actually sounds like a lot of money,” referring to the amount she says the tax would raise. She then said that the 2% and 3% weren’t “punitive” and those people paying the tax can still “grow their fortunes.”

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