Michael Steele's minimum-wage blunder
When asked to specify the federal minimum wage, the RNC chairman choked. Major gaffe or insignificant slip-up?
The video: Michael Steele, the gaffe-prone chairman of the Republican National Committee, is under fire again, after admitting in a tense televised exchange that he doesn't know what the federal minimum wage is. (Watch clip below.) In a discussion about the constitutionality of a federal minimum-wage policy on MSNBC's "The Last Word," Steele was asked to specify the amount, and laughed, saying it isn't "relevant" to the unemployed whether the minimum wage is $7 or $10. Host Lawrence O'Donnell said, "It's okay to say you don't know," eliciting more laughter from Steele.
The reaction: Michael Steele has put his foot in it before, says Evan McMorris-Santoro at Talking Points Memo, but "confessing ignorance about the federal minimum wage in the midst of a campaign where Republicans are shouting 'Jobs! Jobs! Jobs!' from every rooftop" is as bad as it gets. GOP leaders who want ordinary Americans to think you care, jot this down — the federal minimum wage is $7.25 an hour. This is a smokescreen, says William Teach at Stop the ACLU. Liberals can't defend their record — Obamacare, the stimulus, the Bush tax cuts — so they are trying to turn the minimum wage into a big campaign issue. What a pathetic "scare tactic." Watch the video:
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
Cicada-geddon: the fungus that controls insects like 'zombies'
Under The Radar Expert says bugs will develop 'hypersexualisation' despite their genitals falling off
By Chas Newkey-Burden, The Week UK Published
-
'Voters know Biden and Trump all too well'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By Harold Maass, The Week US Published
-
Is the Gaza war tearing US university campuses apart?
Today's Big Question Protests at Columbia University, other institutions, pit free speech against student safety
By Joel Mathis, The Week US Published
-
Arizona court reinstates 1864 abortion ban
Speed Read The law makes all abortions illegal in the state except to save the mother's life
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Trump, billions richer, is selling Bibles
Speed Read The former president is hawking a $60 "God Bless the USA Bible"
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
The debate about Biden's age and mental fitness
In Depth Some critics argue Biden is too old to run again. Does the argument have merit?
By Grayson Quay Published
-
How would a second Trump presidency affect Britain?
Today's Big Question Re-election of Republican frontrunner could threaten UK security, warns former head of secret service
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
'Rwanda plan is less a deterrent and more a bluff'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By The Week UK Published
-
Henry Kissinger dies aged 100: a complicated legacy?
Talking Point Top US diplomat and Nobel Peace Prize winner remembered as both foreign policy genius and war criminal
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Last updated
-
Trump’s rhetoric: a shift to 'straight-up Nazi talk'
Why everyone's talking about Would-be president's sinister language is backed by an incendiary policy agenda, say commentators
By The Week UK Published
-
More covfefe: is the world ready for a second Donald Trump presidency?
Today's Big Question Republican's re-election would be a 'nightmare' scenario for Europe, Ukraine and the West
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published