 [Free Beacon] Sir Richard Branson, an English businessman and founder of the Virgin Group, said Americans should pay higher taxes, although he acknowledged he is not American during an appearance on MSNBC on Friday.
| How fortunate that you are a non-American, my dear sir, so your opinion completely doesn’t matter. On the other hand, have you considered giving more of your money to your own government? |
Branson appeared on MSNBC to discuss Virgin Galactic's partnership with New Mexico to build the first-ever commercial spaceport. At the end of the interview, host Yasmin Vossoughian asked Branson about income inequality and the role people like him "should play with regards to income inequality."
"We have a very important role. I think if anybody is fortunate to be successful, wealth, and sometimes extreme wealth, comes with it and there's an enormous responsibility to redistribute that wealth by setting up, in our case, many, many different kinds of programs," Branson said.
Branson added that the "extremely wealthy most likely should bear more of the burden than they currently do."
"And do you agree with the likes of Warren Buffett and Bill Gates saying individuals like you should be paying higher taxes in this country?" Vossoughian asked.
"Yes, I mean, I'm not American, but I think the answer is yes. I think that, you know, the enormous tax breaks have benefited the very wealthy and that is wrong. And we don't need them in the way that other people do," Branson responded.
The nonpartisan Tax Policy Center found the average middle class family kept almost $1,000 due to the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act passed by Republicans. An article published by Fox Business earlier this year highlighted other benefits of the tax cuts: 
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