Celebrity chef Andrew Gruel ripped into California Democrat Rep. Barbara Lee on Wednesday after she proposed a $50 minimum wage for the state during a debate for Democrat Sen. Diane Feinstein’s seat.
Gruel appeared on “The Ingram Angle” to discuss Lee’s minimum wage stance that she laid out on the debate stage Monday in the race for Feinstein’s senate seat in the upcoming elections. Fox host Laura Ingraham asked the celebrity chef, who owns multiple restaurants in California, his thoughts on what a $50 minimum wage would do to the state. (RELATED: Eric Swalwell’s Campaign Keeps Living The High Life Despite His Mountain Of Personal Debt)
Gruel stated that not only would “every single business” go under, but he suggested that if the senator were serious she should start with raising state-run employees’ wages first. The chef went on to call Lee a “moron and narcissist,” saying that the suggestion was a route to communism as businesses would be forced to rely fully on the state.
“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,” Gruel stated.
“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,” Gruel went on. “At worst, she is trying to buy votes. This is going to lead to upward pressure on all wages. 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.”
During the debate, Lee had been asked about how her suggestion of a higher minimum wage would be “economically sustainable” for smaller businesses within the state, to which the representative stated that the current yearly salary isn’t enough for families anymore.
“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,” Lee stated. “$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.”
Lee is currently running against fellow Democrats Adam Schiff and Katie Porter, who also support raising minimum wage, however, they suggest bumping up from $20 to $25 per hour, according to Fox News.