MARK RALSTON/AFP via Getty Images; Tom Williams/Getty Images
- Sen. Elizabeth Warren slammed Jeff Bezos over his upcoming Blue Origin spaceflight.
- "He's laughing at every person in America who actually paid taxes," Warren said.
- The comments came following a ProPublica report on Bezos' and other billionaires' income taxes.
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Sen. Elizabeth Warren is taking Jeff Bezos to task for his upcoming flight to space.
Warren was spotted Thursday at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport by TMZ, which used the opportunity to ask the Massachusetts senator her thoughts on Bezos' spaceflight next month.
"He's laughing at every person in America who actually paid taxes," Warren said. "Jeff Bezos' trip to outer space is being financed by all the rest of the US taxpayers who paid their taxes so that Jeff Bezos didn't have to."
She added: "Jeff Bezos kept all of his money and uses it on a space ticket. Uh uh."
Representatives for Bezos and Blue Origin did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.
Warren's comments follow a bombshell ProPublica report this week that showed the Amazon CEO didn't pay federal income taxes for at least two years. In 2011, Bezos received a $4,000 tax credit for his children because he lost more money in investments than he earned from his other income.
Read more: Why should we care what billionaires think of the wealth tax?
Bezos and Amazon have been a frequent target for Warren, as well as for other progressive politicians like Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders. Earlier this year, Warren clashed with Amazon ahead of the union vote at Amazon's Bessemer, Alabama, warehouse, saying the company is able to "exploit loopholes and tax havens to pay close to nothing in taxes."
After Amazon fired back on Twitter, Warren said she would "fight to break up Big Tech so you're not powerful enough to heckle senators with snotty tweets."
In March, Warren, Rep. Pramila Jayapal of Washington, and Rep. Brendan Boyle of Pennsylvania introduced the "Ultra Millionaire Tax Act," which would place a 2% tax on household net worth between $50 million and $1 billion. A 3% tax would be placed on household net worth over $1 billion.
Bezos, who will step down as Amazon CEO early next month, is currently worth $194 billion, according to Bloomberg's Billionaires Index. He announced this week that he'll be aboard the first human flight conducted by his space exploration company, Blue Origin, on July 20. The 11-minute trip will take him, his brother Mark, and a third passenger who will bid millions for the opportunity, 62 miles above Earth.
