Celebrity chef Andrew Gruel strongly criticized a proposal by California Congresswoman Barbara Lee to raise the state’s minimum wage to $50 per hour.
During a debate for an open Senate seat, Lee had suggested the unprecedented hike.
Gruel argued on Fox News that such a high minimum wage would bankrupt small businesses, asserting that every company in California would fail under Lee’s plan.
He told the host it was unrealistic and urged Lee to start by paying DMV employees $50 an hour to see the effects.
Gruel called Lee a “moron and narcissist” seeking attention, or trying to “buy votes.”
Gruel said, “Well let’s cut to the bottom line, every single business in California would go under, number one.”
“Number two, if she’s really serious about this, why don’t you go ahead and do it tomorrow and start with all the state-run employees at the DMV? Start paying them $50 an hour, see what happens,” suggested the celebrity chef.
“Because they’re not serious about this. This lady is a moron and narcissist who’s saying stupid things to try to get attention at best,” charged Gruel.
“At worst, she is trying to buy votes. This is going to lead to upward pressure on all wages,” he added.
He warned it would drastically inflate the entire state economy and force all businesses except those run by the state to close, characterizing the idea as “communism-lite.”
“It’s going to totally inflate the entire economy of California which is already there and there will be no independent businesses in California – 100 percent of the businesses will be run by the state and they will rely on the state. ”
“It’s communism-lite,” added Gruel.
Rep. Lee claimed, “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.”
“$104,000 for a family of one, barely enough to get by, low income because of the affordability crisis. So just do the math. Do the math,” she added.
Lee had defended the wage hike as economically sustainable, but Gruel dismissed her claims, saying she did not understand worker productivity or living costs in California.
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