The R&B singer and entrepreneur Ray J has praise for Amazon, which President Donald Trump has accused of putting thousands of brick-and-mortar retailers out of business.
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Ray J closed a $31 million deal last year with Cowboy Wholesale, a distributor of consumer electronics, to create Raycon Global, a company that creates “high-demand, high-quality electronics” designed and endorsed by celebrities. In addition to selling his products on the Raycon online store, he also relies on Amazon.
“To be on Amazon, we reached so many more people, and people can be aware of our products a lot faster,” he told FOX Business’ Liz Claman during an exclusive interview on Friday. “It is a plus for us, definitely.”
Trump has accused Amazon of not paying enough state or federal taxes, accusing the Cupertino, California-based company of hurting Main Street businesses. In 2017, Amazon reportedly raked in more than $5.6 billion in U.S. profits but essentially paid no federal income taxes.
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Now the president is reportedly focusing on antitrust laws. Trump has a long history of railing against Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, accusing The Washington Post owner of using the newspaper to curry favor with politicians to avoid paying taxes.
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“I have stated my concerns with Amazon long before the Election,” he wrote Thursday on Twitter. “Unlike others, they pay little or no taxes to state & local governments, use our Postal System as their Delivery Boy (causing tremendous loss to the U.S.), and are putting many thousands of retailers out of business!”
Ray J dismissed those concerns, saying that Amazon has provided a boost for his business by allowing Amazon Prime customers to access the products.
“It was good for us,” he said. “And I think that’s good for everybody who’s trying to build a business to see sales increase.”
