Hillary Clinton said she supports a $15 minimum wage. This was news to Bernie Sanders.

Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders talk $15 minimum wage

(Image credit: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

published 15 April 2016

Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton had a dust-up at Thursday's debate in Brooklyn about who supports a $15 minimum wage more. Sanders brought up the $15 minimum wage first, and moderator Wolf Blitzer asked Clinton if she would sign a $15 national minimum wage bill. She said yes.

Clinton said that she backs the system New York is considering, that raises the minimum wage to $15 in New York City quickly and then more slowly in lower-cost upstate New York, and threw her support behind a bill in the Senate that raises the federal minimum wage to $12 — "going from $7.25 to 12 is a huge deal" — and urge cities and local government to raise it to $15. "But of course if we have a Democratic Congress, we'll get to $15," she added. Sanders said the $12 minimum wage bill is good, but his $15 bill is better.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

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.

Explore More

Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.

Subscribe to The Week

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox