Kamala Harris backs $15 minimum wage in fight with Trump over pay

By Josh Wingrove
 

Vice President Kamala Harris backed raising the federal minimum wage to at least $15 an hour, saying she would push lawmakers to follow through as she sought to bolster her standing on the economy with working-class voters.
 

“At least $15 an hour, but we’ll work with Congress, right? It’s something that is going through Congress,” Harris said in an interview with NBC News that aired Tuesday night. 

Harris has seized on the issue of raising the federal minimum wage — currently $7.25 an hour — after her Republican rival, former President Donald Trump, sidestepped a question on whether he would back an increase earlier this week.

Trump held a campaign photo op Sunday at a McDonald’s in swing-state Pennsylvania, where he was asked about raising the minimum wage.

“Well, I think this. These people work hard. They’re great,” the Republican nominee responded.
 

 

The vice president pounced on the remark, criticizing Trump on Monday by saying that she “absolutely” believed in raising the minimum wage to ensure that “hardworking Americans, whether they’re working at McDonald’s or anywhere else, should have at least the ability to be able to take care of their family.”

Harris had previously not made clear what hourly rate she would back if elected. President Joe Biden has urged Congress to approve a $15 minimum wage, and Harris has praised states who raised their minimum to that level.

Raising the federal minimum wage would require an act of Congress.

Harris and Trump are jockeying to court working-class voters who offer to tip the balance in key swing states in a presidential race that polls show is razor-close with just two weeks until Election Day.

The economy is a defining issue for voters, worried about high prices that have strained household budgets as well as wages and job growth. Those concerns are a major liability for Harris with voters largely disapproving of the Biden administration’s economic record and polls typically showing they prefer Trump over her on the issue.

Both Harris and Trump have touted a number of policies aimed at easing the costs of goods and services and to boost job growth. The vice president has vowed to end subminimum wages — a practice in which employers pay less than minimum wage with the expectation that workers will make up the difference through gratuities.  

Trump has pledged to eliminate taxes on tipped income, a position Harris has also adopted.