Howard Schultz talks politics with Gwyneth Paltrow — and people have a lot of feelings about it

After his headline-making 60 Minutes interview, Howard Schultz continued to plant the seeds for his potential 2020 presidential run during a sit-down with… Gwyneth Paltrow. Schultz was a guest on The Goop Podcast, where he voiced his frustration with the current state of politics, cementing his position as a centrist independent.

“Humility is something that unfortunately we have lost,” Schultz declared. “I think in many ways America is losing its conscience as a result of the hate and the vitriol and the divisiveness that is being spewed by this president and his enablers.”

He added, “I believe that the majority of Americans do not hate each other.”

“I agree,” Paltrow said.

“That the majority of Americans are not as divided as cable news is making us feel as if we are and not as divided as the Republicans and Democrats and this president is making us out to be,” Schultz continued. “I do believe in the kindness and the goodness and the compassion and the empathy of the American people. … I don’t have a panacea of how to get there, but I know one thing: The current state of affairs, the crisis in our democracy is not who we are, and I know we’re better than this.”

Paltrow said that as a mother, she fears the impact that hate rhetoric will have on her children and it’s a concern the two share.

“I think we are a country of people who are entitled to our beliefs,” the Oscar winner began. “It seems to me that the way in which we are now expressing those ideals on either side have become incredibly toxic and don’t seem to be moving anything forward. And it’s interesting having a 14-year-old daughter and a 12-year-old son, my concern as a mother is the hate. The hateful rhetoric that has become apart of the daily conversation, and everybody is entitled to their own opinion and I respect many different opinions, but — ”

“You mention something that I think is not talked about enough and that is during this period of a lack of civility, a lack of respect, we are imprinting a younger generation with a lack of civility and hate and fear, and I don’t think we’re going to know the consequences of that for quite some time,” Schultz interjected. “And that’s why I think we have such a significant responsibility to our children and our grandchildren to significantly reject this level of rhetoric and behavior… that most of us know is inconsistent with the values of the country and how we’re supposed to act as Americans.”

Schultz continued, “I think you’re right about our freedoms and our pursuit of happiness, and that should be unleashed as opposed to creating a false narrative, whether it’s a caravan [or] the issues around immigration.”

The former Starbucks chairman and CEO doubled down on his stance as an independent.

“I do believe there are common-sense solutions on both sides of the aisle if people would come together and remove their self interest and their ideology and recognize that they’ve been elected to represent all of America, not their individual constituency,” he added. “It’s just a shame that we’re in a situation where ideology and party over country seems to be what we stand for.”

Schultz’s potential 2020 run has been a hot topic on social media in the past 24 hours, with many expressing less than favorable reactions on Twitter. Now the entrepreneur is being labeled out of touch with his choice in participating in The Goop Podcast — a criticism Paltrow herself is familiar with.

The podcast is clearly just one stop on his massive press blitz to promote his new book, From the Ground Up, not simply to launch his bid for president as Paltrow and Schultz discussed more than politics. But it was enough to get people riled up.

From the Ground Up: A Journey to Reimagine the Promise of America is available for order on Amazon now.

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