Howard Schultz has no idea how much a box of Cheerios costs

Howard Schultz.
(Image credit: Screenshot/MSNBC)

Howard Schultz is apparently more of a reduced-fat turkey bacon and cage-free egg white breakfast sandwich kind of guy.

The ex-Starbucks CEO announced his probable presidential ambitions on Sunday, and appeared on MSNBC's Morning Joe on Wednesday to discuss the widespread backlash he's received to his "centrist independent" affiliation ever since. Hosts Mika Brzezinski and Joe Scarborough promptly served Schultz some rapid-fire questions, including one intended to prove how well the billionaire relates to the average American.

"How much does an 18-ounce box of Cheerios cost?" Brzezinski asked. "I don't know, I don't eat Cheerios," Schultz reasonably responded. Brzezinski let him know it's "four bucks," just a bit less than one bowl of hearty blueberry oatmeal at Starbucks.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Just before that, Brzezinski asked Schultz to name his favorite GOP and Democratic presidents of the past 50 years. Schultz said Ronald Reagan because he "never took his jacket off in Oval Office" out of his "respect for the office," and Franklin Delano Roosevelt. The first claim is not true, and FDR died 74 years ago. Watch the moment below. Kathryn Krawczyk

YouTube YouTube
Watch On
Explore More

Kathryn is a graduate of Syracuse University, with degrees in magazine journalism and information technology, along with hours to earn another degree after working at SU's independent paper The Daily Orange. She's currently recovering from a horse addiction while living in New York City, and likes to share her extremely dry sense of humor on Twitter.