Walker: Minimum wage hike among left’s ‘lame ideas’

by Jesse Byrnes - 07/14/15 11:33 AM ET

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, hours after becoming a GOP presidential candidate, said that the minimum wage was among the “lame ideas” from those on the political left.

“The left claims they’re for American workers. And they’ve just got really lame ideas, things like the minimum wage,” Walker said in a lengthy interview with Sean Hannity on Fox News.

“Instead of focusing on that, we need to talk about how do we get people the skills and the education and qualifications they need to take on careers that pay far more than the minimum wage,” Walker added.

Walker has previously aired his belief that he does not think the minimum wage “serves a purpose,” adding in a pre-election interview last year, “I want people to make … two or three times that.”

Critics seized on Walker’s latest remark, which he made hours after Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton signaled support for increasing the federal minimum wage above $7.25, the rate in Wisconsin.

AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka called Walker “a national disgrace,” and the GOP candidate invoked his successful home-state fights against labor unions during his campaign launch Monday.

“I think the path to a Republican winning the presidency comes right through the Midwest,” Walker said on Fox, naming Iowa, Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio. “And I throw Pennsylvania in because they’re in the Big Ten.”

Walker suggested that the GOP nominee should be someone who “comes from there and speaks the language.”

Tags Hillary Clinton