Briahna Joy Gray, a former national press secretary for Sen. Bernie Sanders’s (I-Vt.) presidential campaign and co-host of the “Bad Faith” podcast, urged lawmakers on Wednesday to keep pushing for a $15 minimum wage.
Gray said during an appearance on Hill.TV’s “Rising” that the income derived from minimum wages is “absolutely needed” and not “some teenage throwaway salary.”
“The average minimum wage worker — despite the fact that some conservatives love to talk about how these are jobs for high schoolers and shouldn’t be supporting families — … the average minimum wage worker, like it or not, is a 35-year-old woman whose income provides about half of their family’s household income,” she said.
She added that it “really shocks the conscience” that lawmakers are not united in raising the minimum wage in the midst a global pandemic and economic crisis.
Gray weighed in on President Biden recently saying that he expects a provision calling for a $15 minimum wage to be dropped from the $1.9 trillion coronavirus stimulus package. Biden has vowed to push for the proposal as a separate piece of legislation.
“Yeah, it is frustrating to feel like you’re still playing this tug of war with members of your own party, people who are politically aligned, and who have pledged to commit to a basic policy like this,” Gray said.
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