“Fox & Friends” co-host Brian Kilmeade is arguing small businesses should not have to pay workers a $15 minimum wage, claiming they can’t afford it and it will cost jobs.
Studies, like this one from 2019, show a $15 minimum wage will not lead to job losses, but Kilmeade appears to be discussing a new Congressional Budget Office (CBO) study, which says the higher minimum wage will lead to lost jobs.
The Washington Post reports that study also says a $15 minimum wage “would lift 900,000 people out of poverty and raise income for 17 million people — about 1 in 10 workers.”
But Kilmeade on Tuesday opted to focus on bars that, he says, would have to have fewer bartenders.
“It’s the average everyday business that can’t” absorb a higher minimum wage, he argues.
“The bartender that gets that wage doubled which is great in the short term but you’re not going to have as many bartenders. Managers are going to start being hostess [sic] and hostesses because they’re not going to be able to have hosts up there ’cause their bottom line’s not going to work out,” he claims.
“I just think that people should fall in love with the free market again,” Kilmeade declares.
The Washington Post also notes the “existing federal minimum wage, $7.25 an hour, has not been changed since 2009 and remains below historic levels when adjusted for inflation.”
CNBC last year reported, “Full-time minimum wage workers cannot afford a two-bedroom rental anywhere in the U.S. and cannot afford a one-bedroom rental in 95% of U.S. counties.”
Kilmeade reportedly makes $4 million annually and has a net worth of $8 million.
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