During an event at Arizona State University, Starbucks CEO and potential presidential candidate Howard Schultz accidentally attacked the media as fake news.
A student asked Schultz during the Thursday event "if he agrees with President Trump on the existence of a 'fake media,'" the Phoenix New Times reports.
"When I hear the president say that the media is the enemy of the state, I could not agree with that more," Schultz responded.
A few minutes later, ASU president and moderator Michael Crow asked Schultz whether he had misspoke. "No, no no! I didn't mean to say that," Schultz confirmed. "Did I say that?"
After the event ended, Schultz repeated to a group of reporters, "Of course the press is not the enemy of the state. So, I hope you all get that."
It was not the only time Schultz seemed to backpedal, according to the New Times. After responding to a question about raising taxes on billionaires by saying "everything has to be on the table," he then cautioned that "I'm only four, five days into this. I haven't decided whether I'm gonna run for president or not. There'll be plenty of time for the American people to hear specifics about my policies."
The flub came the same day that Schultz deleted a tweet praising a PJMedia post endorsing the notion that the center-left independent could win the presidency. Liberal critics noted the Roger Simon blog post referred to Sens. Kamala Harris (D., Calif.) and Elizabeth Warren (D., N.Y.), both Democratic candidates, as "shrill" and "Fauxcahontas."