Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has said the fight to increase the minimum wage is 'utterly embarrassing' as McDonald's workers in Denmark earn $22 per hour so $15 in the US is a 'deep compromise'.
The New York congresswoman hit out as the debate to raise the federal minimum wage to $15 rumbles on in Congress after Senate parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough ruled the hike should not be included in the COVID-19 relief package.
AOC doubled down on her calls to 'override' MacDonough's ruling as she compared the proposed increase to the wage paid to Danish McDonald's workers.
However right-wing critics pushed back on the Democratic socialist pointing out that the Nordic country does not have a statutory minimum wage.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has said the fight to increase the minimum wage is 'utterly embarrassing' as McDonald's workers in Denmark earn $22 per hour so $15 in the US is a 'deep compromise'
'It is utterly embarrassing that 'pay people enough to live' is a stance that's even up for debate,' AOC tweeted Tuesday night.
'Override the parliamentarian and raise the wage. McD's workers in Denmark are paid $22/hr + 6 wks paid vacation. $15/hr is a deep compromise - a big one, considering the phase in.'
Denmark does not have a federally mandated minimum wage. Instead it has a strong trade union presence where individual industries and workers negotiate fair salaries on a sector-by-sector basis.
Denmark's Employment Minister Peter Hummelgaard said last year its a model that works for the nation: 'In Denmark, wages are negotiated by the trade unions and the employers' organizations alone - it has been that way for more than 100 years.'
Right-wing critics clapped back at AOC saying the lack of a comparable national minimum wage between the two nations means her argument is flawed.
Conservative journalist David Harsanyi tweeted: 'There is no statutory minimum wage in Denmark.'
The New York congresswoman hit out as the debate to raise the federal minimum wage to $15 rumbles on in Congress after Senate parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough ruled the hike should not be included in the COVID-19 relief package
AOC doubled down on her calls to 'override' MacDonough's ruling and compared the proposed increase to the wage paid to Danish McDonald's workers
Harsanyi added that he thinks the Danish trade union system of sector-specific salary negotiations is 'a lot better idea' than a blanket minimum wage.
'Denmark, and most other Scandinavian nations have sector by sector salary negotiations -- which I think is a bad idea, but a lot better idea than a flat national minimum wage,' he wrote.
Dinesh D'Souza, a right-wing commentator who was pardoned by Donald Trump in January for a 2014 campaign finance fraud conviction, slammed AOC as 'utterly embarrassing' for not knowing Denmark doesn't have a minimum wage.
'Denmark, like most Scandinavian countries, does not have a minimum wage. It is utterly embarrassing you don’t seem to know that,' he tweeted.
Right-wing activist and vocal Trump supporter Candace Owens also hit out at AOC on Fox News' Hannity Wednesday night saying the Democrat 'never let facts get in way of a good story'.
Right-wing critics clapped back at AOC saying the lack of a comparable minimum wage structure means her argument is flawed
Right-wing activist and vocal Trump supporter Candace Owens hit out at AOC on Fox News' Hannity Wednesday night saying the Democrat 'never let facts get in way of a good story'
'It's insane. I will say this. With AOC You never let facts get in way of a good story. You know what I mean? That is her motto,' Owens mocked.
'We should give her the Nobel prize in economics.'
AOC did not say in her tweet that the Danish wage was a national minimum wage but simply compared the $22 rate to the $15 rate currently being fought on Capitol Hill.
Democrats were aiming to get the minimum wage hike passed as part of the $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill.
Parliamentarian MacDonough dealt a blow to the Democrats' plan last week when she ruled Thursday that the wage hike should not be included in the package
But parliamentarian MacDonough dealt a blow to this plan last week when she ruled Thursday that it should not be included in the package.
MacDonough said the provision was not compliant with the rules governing the budget process that Congress is using to pass the bill with simple majorities.
Several Democrats including AOC are calling for MacDonough to be overruled - or even fired.
'I think all options should be on the table,' AOC said Friday.
'I think the parliamentarian is verging on, you know, just really intruding in this legislative process in a very concerning way.'
Sen. Bernie Sanders is also pushing for Democrats to ignore the ruling while some argue Vice President Kamala Harris, in her role as president of the Senate, can overrule the parliamentarian.
'I'm sorry - an unelected parliamentarian does not get to deprive 32 million Americans the raise they deserve,' Democratic Representative Ro Khanna wrote on Twitter.
'This is an advisory, not a ruling. VP Harris needs to disregard and rule a $15 minimum wage in order. We were elected to deliver for the people. It's time we do our job.'
But Joe Biden has ruled out such action saying he 'respects' the decision.
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