General Electric: CEO Jeff Immelt says he has had enough of Bernie Sanders’ ‘cheap shots and lies'

The head of one of America’s largest corporations has accused Bernie Sanders of lying after the presidential candidate said it paid no taxes and displayed “greed and selfishness”.

In an interview earlier this week with the New York Daily News, Mr Sanders said that General Electric (GE), the sixth largest corporation in the US, was a part of corporate America that was damaging the country.

“General Electric was created in this country by American workers and American consumers. What we have seen over the many years is shutting down of many major plants in this country. Sending jobs to low-wage countries,” he said.

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“And General Electric, is doing a very good job avoiding the taxes. In fact, in a given year, they pay nothing in taxes. That’s greed. That is greed and that’s selfishness. That is lack of respect for the people of this country.”

Asked how it was damaging the “fabric” of American society, he replied: “If you are a corporation and the only damn thing you are concerned about is your profits. Let's just give an example of a corporation that's making money in America, today, but desiring to move to China or to Mexico to make even more money. That is destroying the moral fabric of this country.

“That is saying that I don’t care that the workers, here have worked for decades. It doesn't matter to me. The only thing that matters is that I can make a little bit more money. That the dollar is all that is almighty. And I think that is the moral fabric.”

GE, which has business is a wide range of sectors including energy, transportation and finance, has long been accused of minimising its tax liabilities with great efficiency.

A New York Times investigation in 2011 revealed how, through a mixture of aggressive tax structures and lobbying for tax breaks, GE was paying hardly any tax in the US. That year, rather than pying tax on the $5.1bn in profit it made, it received a tax benefit of $3.2bn.

Earlier this year, it announced it was moving its global HQ from its Connecticut home of more than 40 years to Boston after Connecticut closed corporate tax loopholes in the state.

The CEO of GE has responded vigorously to Mr Sanders’ claims. In an article published by the Washington Post, Jeffrey Immelt said Mr Sanders was lying, making hollow campaign promises, and “missing the point” by criticising GE’s morality.

“GE has been in business for 124 years, and we’ve never been a big hit with socialists,” he said. “We create wealth and jobs, instead of just calling for them in speeches.”

He also dismissed the claim that GE did not pay taxes.

“Repeating a lie over and over does not make it true. We pay billions in taxes, including federal, state and local taxes,” he said.

“It’s easy to make hollow campaign promises and take cheap shots in speeches and during editorial board sessions, but US companies have to deliver for their employees, customers and shareholders every day.

“I’m proud of all that we do, and how it all figures into ‘the moral fabric’ of America is so plain to me. It seems Senator Sanders is missing the point.”