The former Starbucks chief executive and billionaire self-confessed “lifelong Democrat” Howard Schultz said on Sunday he could run for president as a “centrist independent”.

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Leading figures in the Democratic party slammed the “half-baked idea” and warned he could split the vote, handing the White House back to Donald Trump.

Schultz responded both on CBS on Sunday night and in telling Axios on Monday he knew he was “going to create hate, anger, disenfranchisement from friends, from Democrats” but was convinced he was doing the right thing.

“I am seriously thinking of running for president,” Schultz, 65, said in his CBS 60 Minutes interview. “I will run as a centrist independent, outside of the two-party system.” He also said Trump – another rich businessman, but one who sought the nomination of an established party – “is not qualified to be the president”.

On Monday morning, Trump responded. “Howard Schultz doesn’t have the ‘guts’ to run for president!” he wrote on Twitter. “Watched him on @60Minutes last night and I agree with him that he is not the ‘smartest person.’ Besides, America already has that! I only hope that Starbucks is still paying me their rent in Trump Tower!”

I’ve, you know, I’ve been a lifelong Democrat Howard Schultz

Schultz said he thought an independent was needed because “both parties are consistently not doing what’s necessary on behalf of the American people and are engaged, every single day, in revenge politics”.

Asked why he was considering such a run when his views – and donations – have long aligned with the Democratic party, he said: “That’s true. I’ve, you know, I’ve been a lifelong Democrat.

“I look at both parties – we see extremes on both sides, well, we are sitting, today, with approximately $21.5tn of debt, which is a reckless example, not only of Republicans, but of Democrats as well, as a reckless failure of their constitutional responsibility.”

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Most analysts agree the US national debt ballooned after in 2017 Republicans passed and Trump signed a tax cut favouring wealthier Americans.

Third-party candidates remain a divisive issue. The role of Ralph Nader in the 2000 election won by George W Bush remains fiercely debated and in 2016, Green candidate Jill Stein and Libertarian Gary Johnson attracted hundreds of thousands of votes in states Trump won by slim margins, giving him the presidency in the electoral college despite defeat in the popular ballot.

Dan Pfeiffer, a former adviser to Barack Obama, tweeted of Schultz: “This half-baked idea … will pose an existential threat to a Democrat in what will likely be 2020 race decided by a few votes in a handful of states.”

Matthew Gertz, a fellow at the non-profit Media Matters for America, noted conservative enthusiasm for a Schultz run and wrote: “It should surprise no one that the people most favourably disposed to a Howard Schultz independent presidential run are the ones who want to see Trump re-elected.”

Two other billionaires, Tom Steyer and Michael Bloomberg, have considered White House runs. Steyer will not run, choosing to focus on his push for Trump’s impeachment. If Bloomberg runs it will be within the Democratic party. He issued a statement on Monday that said: “Given the strong pull of partisanship and the realities of the electoral college system, there is no way an independent can win.”

Bloomberg also said he thought an independent “would just split the anti-Trump vote and end up re-electing the president”.

The people most favourably disposed to a Schultz presidential run are the ones who want to see Trump re-elected Matthew Gertz

On CBS, Schultz was asked if he was worried about taking votes from a Democrat.

“I wanna see the American people win,” he said. “I wanna see America win. I don’t care if you’re a Democrat, independent, Libertarian, Republican. Bring me your ideas. And I will be an independent person, who will embrace those ideas. Because I am not, in any way, in bed with a party.”

Speaking to Axios, he said despite knowing the anger and worry he was causing, he was “concerned about one thing: doing everything I can to help families who have been left behind, and to restore dignity and honour back in the Oval Office”.

Schultz has hired advisers including Steve Schmidt, who had a senior role on John McCain’s presidential campaign in 2008 but left the Republican party in 2018. On CBS, without divulging detail, the would-be candidate ran through his positions. They largely aligned with Democratic priorities.

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Schultz said he was for “fair and equitable” immigration reform including a way for undocumented migrants to become US citizens; supported the Paris climate accord; backed healthcare for all, though not free; and thought tax reform should help the poorest in society.

He said he would be on the ballot in all 50 states and would ensure “complete separation” between his campaign and Starbucks stores. Asked if he would release his tax returns, as Trump has not, he said: “One hundred per cent. Yes.”

Schultz led Starbucks from its base in Seattle. But he took CBS on a visit to the Brooklyn public housing project in which he grew up, describing an abusive relationship with his father but also shared moments in the stands at Yankee Stadium. The interview – and, cynics and opponents said, the very public mulling of a run for the White House – served as an ad for his new book.

The book, which Schultz was set to launch in New York on Monday night, has a coffee pun in the title: From the Ground Up. But its subtitle betrays its purpose as a standard campaign biography: A Journey to Reimagine the Promise of America.