WATCH: Democrat Rep. Barbara Lee Demands Federal Minimum Wage Be Increased To $50 An Hour

During a debate on Monday night for the Democratic nomination for the open California Senate seat, Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA) demanded that the federal minimum wage be increased from its current $7.25 to $50 an hour, a nearly 700% increase.

When Lee was asked about her position during the debate by a moderator, she attempted to defend her position and the impact that it would have on small businesses across the country. She began her answer by stating that she had previously run a small business for 11 years.

"I know what worker productivity means, and that means that you have to make sure that your employees are taken care of and have a living wage in the Bay Area. I believe it was the United Way came out with a report that — very recently — $127,000 for a family of four is just barely enough to get by," she said, adding that another survey of the Bay Area found that $104,000 income was not enough to get by for one person. A worker making a $50 minimum wage for 40 hours a week every single week of the year would make $104,000, more than double the average salary nationwide, which stands at $59,428.

"And so, just do the math. Just do the math. Of course, we have national minimum wages that we need to raise to a living wage — you're talking about $20, $25 — fine, but I have got to be focused on what California needs and what the affordability factor is when we calculate this wage," the Democrat Senate candidate added.

Following her remarks, Lee was heavily criticized by conservative commentators online, with TPUSA Founder Charlie Kirk writing, "Democrat Barbara Lee thinks she can solve inflation and cost of living problems with a simple fix: Just raise the minimum wage to $50 an hour! Okay, why not $100 then? $1000? Why not just make the minimum wage a billion dollars an hour? Then we'd all be richer than Elon Musk! Economic illiteracy like Rep. Lee's has been around for centuries. Every country that adopts it becomes a dystopian nightmare."

Barbara Lee's proposal to increase the minimum wage to $50 an hour shows that she should never be near the reins of power. A wage that is nearly 700% above the current minimum would bankrupt every small business in America and lead to record-high inflation that would make 2022's eight percent rates look small in comparison. Thankfully, Rep. Lee is currently struggling in the polls, and her path to victory in the Democratic primary for California's Senate seat looks increasingly small.

WATCH:

Senate candidate Rep. Barbara Lee has a solution to inflation and high prices:

Raise the minimum wage to $50 an hour pic.twitter.com/H5Ema1pGY5

— End Wokeness (@EndWokeness) February 13, 2024

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