Jay Carney, a former White House Press Secretary under Barack Obama, slammed Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez for her attacks on Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, suggesting she actually do something productive about the minimum wage instead “making stuff up” about the company.
The New York Representative, who has taken heat for costing people in her district thousands of jobs by chasing Amazon headquarters from the area, continued her feud with the technology giant over the weekend.
She accused CEO Jeff Bezos in particular of paying workers “starvation wages” during an interview on ABC News ‘This Week.’
“Being a billionaire is predicated on paying people starvation wages and stripping them of their ability to access health care, and also … his ability to be a billionaire is predicated on the fact that his workers are taking food stamps,” Ocasio-Cortez lashed out.
Amazon News responded by tweeting that the socialist congresswoman is “just wrong” on the matter.
.@AOC is just wrong. Amazon is a leader on pay at $15 min wage + full benefits from day one. We also lobby to raise federal min wage. https://t.co/crWp5fPEzS
— Amazon News (@amazonnews) June 17, 2019
“These allegations are absurd,” a company spokesperson told Fox Business. “Amazon associates receive industry-leading pay starting at $15 an hour – in fact, hourly associates at our Staten Island facility earn between $17.30 and $23 an hour, plus benefits which include comprehensive medical, dental, and vision insurance.”
You mean … she lied?!
Former Obama Crony Rips AOC
Adding insult to injury was Carney’s response. Carney now serves as head of communications for Amazon.
He tweeted that Ocasio-Cortez needs to “focus on raising the federal minimum wage instead of making stuff up about Amazon.”
More than 42% of all working Americans earn less than the $15/hour Amazon pays entry-level fulfillment center employees. And all our employees get top-tier benefits. I’d urge @AOC to focus on raising the federal minimum wage instead of making stuff up about Amazon. https://t.co/ClhFfOrywd
— Jay Carney (@JayCarney) June 17, 2019
Amazon raised its minimum wage rate to $15/hour in 2018. Now Ocasio-Cortez refers to that as “starvation wages.”
Ironically, she makes these statements thinking it will punish large corporations – which are the enemy to the left – and favor small businesses. And yet, a coffee shop she once worked for went out of business last year, in part due to the exorbitant minimum wage in New York City.
Feud With Amazon
Ocasio-Cortez’ ongoing feud with Amazon is puzzling at best. The loss of 25,000 jobs to the region that the company specifically blamed on her vocal resistance, is deeply upsetting to voters.
Even the perpetually confused Cher understands what she did to her constituents.
Are 25 Thousand New Jobs (Plus Thousands of Ancillary Jobs) Not a Good Idea For The Ppl Of NY⁉️
— Cher (@cher) February 15, 2019
A new poll shows that only 21% of respondents view Ocasio-Cortez favorably, while just 11% believe she has their best interests in mind.
Those ‘best interests,’ as the poll shows, specifically reference the Amazon deal, of which over 36% of respondents supported it while a mere 9% were opposed.
Ocasio-Cortez is not only harming her political career by fighting Amazon, but she’s now setting herself up for mockery amongst Obama cronies.
