Pictured below is the face of the kind of arrogant company CEO that drives susceptible, under-educated young adults into the arms of socialist Bernie Sanders.
Remember him? That’s former drug company CEO Martin Shkreli, nicknamed “Pharma Bro,” who testified today on Capitol Hill before the House Committee on Oversight and Reform. Shkreli was one of several pharmaceutical executives called to address the rapidly rising cost of pharmaceuticals.
As you may recall, Shkreli, the former CEO of Turing Pharmaceuticals, earned the nickname of “Most Hated Man in America” after he raised the price of a life-saving drug from $13.50 to $750 per pill. Like a certain other business mogul, he loves to turn to social media — namely Twitter — to defend his business practices and outrage his critics.
He fell mostly silent in the face of the House Committee today, however, due to his insistence on pleading the Fifth Amendment. The smirks, grins, and downright childish behavior of the 32-year-old however, did not dispel the Most Hated Man moniker. Watch below. Even tough former prosecutor Rep. Trey Gowdy — who did manage to land one small jab — was left stunned.
The real derision Shkreli exhibited was toward Rep. Elijah Cummings, who in my opinion played a weak hand by pleading with Shkreli to use his influence to help lower drug prices. Like a shark, Shkreli sensed weakness. Watch:
But Shkreli didn’t stop there. He tweeted out his contempt for Congress during the hearing.
Hard to accept that these imbeciles represent the people in our government.
— Martin Shkreli (@MartinShkreli) February 4, 2016
He hit on a Gawker journalist.
@ashleyfeinberg that's right gurl now what about us
— Martin Shkreli (@MartinShkreli) February 4, 2016
And joked about his facial expressions.
I had prior counsel produce a memo on facial expressions during congressional testimony if anyone wants to see it. Interesting precedence.
— Martin Shkreli (@MartinShkreli) February 4, 2016
But Martin Shkreli may eventually have the smirk wiped from his face. He was arrested in December, 2015, for security fraud and conspiracy charges, which he has denied and has instead attributed to his hiking of drug prices. Currently out on a $5 million bond, he could face 20 years in prison if convicted.
The smirk may morph into the panicked expressions of these characters from the 1999 cult classic, “Office Space.”
Perhaps this would be a more fitting scenario for Mr. Shkreli should he arrive at federal prison. Unrealistic, of course, but thinking about it provides one a gratifying amount of Schadenfreude.
Is gouging the price of drugs illegal? No, and in the free market system it should not be. But it’s immoral. And it’s just one more reason why so many young adults — who have been indoctrinated into the joys of socialism by their leftist professors and by social media — reject the limitless capacity of free enterprise to embrace the confining socialism of Bernie Sanders.
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