Thread by @alexis_levinson

At the Union Square Barnes & Noble, the first stop in Howard Schultz’s book tour/since he announced presidential intentions, the purchase of Schultz’s book gets you a free Grande drink at the Starbucks in the store.

(For the record, that coupon does not cover soy milk, tea, or any kind of specialty drink, as it turns out)

Protester stands up almost immediately at Schultz event:

"You'll help elect Trump, you billionaire, egotistical asshole. Go back to getting ratio'd on twitter. go back to Davos with the other billionaire elite."

The protester got booed.

But some scattered applause when Andrew Ross Sorkin (who's interviewing Schultz) reads Michael Bloomberg's comments about the issues with running as an independent.

"I don't agree with his conclusion," @HowardSchultz says of Bloomberg's comments

.@HowardSchultz on Trump's tweet: "I think he’s been on the wrong side of almost every issue. And he’s clearly on the wrong side of this."

Schultz, justifying a third party vote, argues that in the current system, 7-10 states determine the outcome of the presidential election. "What if an independent candidate could create a 50 state race?"

.@HowardSchultz — "Donald Trump, if he is the Republican nominee, and there’s likely some questions about that..."

Schultz, asked why he wouldn't run as a Democrat — "I would have to say things that I know in my heart I do not believe, and I would have to be disingenuous," he says. Says the left is calling for free healthcare, free college, guaranteed job.

At which point he gets shouted down by protester number two, who yells: "healthcare is a human right!" a number of times.

Schultz shuts down any possibility of deciding to run as a Democrat. "No," he says. "If I run for president, I’m running as a centrist independent."

Schultz: "If a Democrat were to win the White House in 2020, is there any evidence to anyone here that our political system is all of a sudden going to change and people are going to start working together? There is no evidence of that whatsoever."

Q: Would you drop out if polls showed you would help Trump win?

Schultz: "If I decide to run for pres as an independent, I will believe, and I will have the conviction and courage to believe, that I will win…I certainly will not do anything to put DT back in the Oval Office."

2020 bingo: Schultz talks about the "dignity of work" cc: Sherrod Brown

Schultz asked about @AOC advisor saying existence of billionaires is "failure of the system."

Schultz: "It's so un-American to think that way…I think there is a problem that she has identified. But I think the way she’s going about it, unfortunately, she is a bit misinformed."

ARS: "There are a lot of people in Seattle that are very unhappy that you sold the Sonics in 2006"

Schultz calls it "the biggest professional mistake I’ve made"

More @HowardSchultz
on selling the Sonics: "This was a big mistake on my part. I’m human, I’m not perfect, I can’t undo it, and I feel terrible about it."

Schultz on the calculus of deciding to run: says he'll "huddle" with wife and kids, "and then I think we will see over the next three months if we can ignite a national movement for a better choice."

How would you run against Trump?

Schultz: "First of all I think President Trump is a very insecure man, and that insecurity is really manifested with all those attacks … we’re not gonna get in the mud with him."

Schultz on how he would have handled relationship with Saudi Arabia after the Khashoggi murder — "How could we turn a blind eye to that situation? So if I would have been president at the time, I would have placed serious, significant, acute sanctions on Saudi Arabia."

Q: What can Dems do to change your mind?

Schultz, with another AOC reference: "I respect the Dem Party. I no longer feel affiliated because I don't think their views represent the majority of Americans. I don’t think we want a 70 percent income tax in our country."