AOC used a $7 croissant to make an argument for raising the minimum wage. Ted Cruz missed the point.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., on Monday expressed shock over the price of a croissant at a New York City airport and used it to make a point about raising the minimum wage.
“Croissants at LaGuardia are going for SEVEN DOLLARS A PIECE,” Ocasio-Cortez tweeted, adding a “Scream” emoji. “Yet some people think getting a whole hour of personal, dedicated human labor for $15 is too expensive?”
Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, seized upon Ocasio-Cortez’s croissant tweet, but he seemed to miss her point.
“Oh the humanity!” Cruz tweeted. “Here’s the answer: government-mandated FREE CROISSANTS FOR ALL. And we’ll just force the bakers to give all of their time for free. #SocialistLogic #AprilFools.”
Ocasio-Cortez and other progressive lawmakers have called for an increase of the nationally mandated minimum wage, which since 2009 has been $7.25 per hour. In recent years, numerous states have raised the minimum wage to $15 per hour.
According to the U.S. Department of Labor, as of March, the minimum wage in 29 states was higher than the federal minimum wage.
In New York, the minimum wage is $11.10 per hour. In Texas, it is $7.25.
Ocasio-Cortez responded to Cruz in a follow-up tweet.
“GOP taking every tweet so earnestly, making my point for me,” she wrote. “It’s not an argument against the price of a croissant — it’s about the value of human worth. But I guess that idea is foreign to them since their policies treat people as disposable anyway.”
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