New York U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez defended her comments in a podcast interview that, "You can't earn a billion dollars," referring to the extreme consolidation of wealth and abuses of market power in the American economic and political systems. The comments were met with criticism from The Washington Post editorial board and prompted a question from political strategist David Axelrod during a discussion hosted by the U. of C’s Institute of Politics at the University of Chicago. She attributed the criticisms to the influence of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. Ocacio-Coutez, considered a potential candidate in 2028 for the Democratic presidential nomination, did not address whether her criticisms applied to another possible White House contender, Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker.