Democratic Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema drew fire on social media Friday for her thumbs-down display when voting against a proposed minimum wage increase.
Sinema, six other Democrats, one Independent, and every Republican voted against an amendment proposed by Independent Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders that would have increased the national minimum wage to $15 per hour. The measure was previously cut from the COVID relief bill and was then proposed during a Senate “vote-a-rama,” which allowed senators to force a vote on any proposal.
Several social media users, however, were upset by Sinema’s body language when coming forward to give a thumbs-down on the proposal and took to Twitter to express their frustration. (‘They Can Afford It’: Daily Caller Co-Founder Neil Patel Suggests Large Corporations Should Bear The Brunt Of A Minimum Wage Increase)
Journalist Yashar Ali called Sinema’s optics “horrible” and called her out for making “a show of it.”
No matter what you think of @kyrstensinema‘s vote, these optics are horrible.
There’s no rule that requires Senators to vote the way she did (a la John McCain healthcare vote in 2017).
You may think people don’t deserve to be paid more, but you don’t need to make a show of it. pic.twitter.com/Cj0iYcoDPH
— Yashar Ali ???? (@yashar) March 5, 2021
PolicyLink director Tracey Ross responded to HuffPost politics reporter Igor Bobic’s reported news about Sinema bringing cake into the building for Senate staff who had worked overnight. “Let them eat cake,” she wrote, referring to the French Revolution-era legend about Marie Antionette’s supposed disdain for the working-class.
“Let them eat cake” https://t.co/McmMAx3tar
— Tracey (@traceylross) March 5, 2021
Gravity Payments CEO Dan Price, famous for taking a pay cut and raising the wages of all his employees to $70,000 per year, pointed out the Arizona senator was not always against a minimum wage hike.
in the 7 years since you tweeted this, the minimum wage has lost 11% of its value.
Why did you vote against raising the min wage today?
— Dan Price (@DanPriceSeattle) March 5, 2021
Many others weighed in as well:
Kyrsten Sinema is the most vapid Democratic politician to come along in quite a while. Her shtick of funky hair and bright clothing as a mask for her apparent sociopathy is downright horrifying. She’s not a “maverick,” she’s an attention seeker who only engages in aesthetics.
— Emma Vigeland (@EmmaVigeland) March 5, 2021
Arizona’s late Senator John McCain gave a thumb’s down on repealing the Affordable Care Act in 2017.
Today Arizona Senator Kyrsten Sinema gave a thumb’s down on a federal minimum wage of $15 an hr.
Hey AZ, I know I don’t have much room to talk but why is your Senator like this? https://t.co/DD3I0NsMJV
— Rex Chapman (@RexChapman) March 5, 2021
This is as ugly and self-destructive as Ted Cruz fucking off to Cancun as Texans froze. I’ll never stop being amazed at how power makes people stupid. https://t.co/LJ6csLw7xr
— Jon Schwarz (@schwarz) March 5, 2021
The image of Kyrsten Sinema jauntily voting against the minimum wage without even putting her bag down will linger with me for a long time https://t.co/ZbnE2ukQmj pic.twitter.com/vEI59XIXGX
— Jack Mirkinson (@jackmirkinson) March 5, 2021
Kyrsten Sinema and Joe Manchin – “we’re democrats!” pic.twitter.com/1OYVYItFtg
— sam greisman (@SAMGREIS) March 5, 2021
So, why the happy thumbs-down dance today, @kyrstensinema? #RaiseTheWage #DontDanceWhilePeopleStarve https://t.co/cXE9B9mDDJ
— Kimberley Johnson (@AuthorKimberley) March 5, 2021