Former Obama and Biden insider Susan Rice is facing fierce backlash after appearing to threaten political “revenge” against corporations, universities, and institutions she believes have aligned themselves with President Donald Trump.
The remarks came during a February 19 interview on the left-leaning podcast Stay Tuned with Preet Bharara, hosted by former federal prosecutor Preet Bharara. What was billed as a political discussion quickly turned into something far more revealing: an open warning to Trump supporters in corporate America that their day of reckoning is coming.
Rice, who has served as U.N. ambassador and national security adviser under former President Barack Obama, mused ominously about the concept of vengeance.
“A very prominent public figure… once told me, ‘Revenge is best served cold,’” Rice said. “The older I get, the more I see the wisdom of that.”
She then sharpened her aim.
“When it comes to the elites — the corporate interests, the law firms, the universities, the media — it’s not going to end well for them,” she warned, referring to those she claims have acted in their “narrow self-interest” by cooperating with or accommodating President Trump.
In other words, if Democrats return to power, Rice suggests the gloves are coming off.
She went further, predicting that companies who have “taken a knee to Trump” will soon regret it. “They’re going to be held accountable,” she said, adding that Democrats have had “a bellyful” and will not “play by the old set of rules.”
An “accountability agenda,” she called it.
To many Americans, that sounded less like political competition and more like political retribution — a warning shot to private businesses that dare to work with a duly elected president whose policies they may find beneficial.
President Trump didn’t hold back in response.
In a post on Truth Social, he blasted Rice as “Trump Deranged” and called on Netflix, where Rice serves on the board of directors, to cut ties with her immediately.
“Netflix should fire racist, Trump Deranged Susan Rice, IMMEDIATELY, or pay the consequences,” Trump wrote. He dismissed her as a “political hack” and questioned why the entertainment giant continues to associate itself with someone openly threatening ideological retaliation.
The broader concern here isn’t just partisan rhetoric. It’s the normalization of using political power to punish perceived enemies in the private sector. When a former top national security official openly discusses “revenge” against businesses for aligning with a political opponent, it raises serious questions about how some on the left view governance.
Is dissent from progressive orthodoxy grounds for investigation? For regulatory pressure? For targeted retaliation?
Rice framed her comments as a warning to corporate leaders who she believes miscalculated Trump’s popularity. Yet regardless of polling swings, the United States is not supposed to operate on a winner-take-all system of political vengeance.
Elections have consequences — but they are meant to shape policy, not settle scores.
For now, Rice’s remarks have drawn attention not just to her own rhetoric, but to a broader question looming over American politics: when leaders speak of “revenge,” should the country take them at their word?
