BURSTSen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) said on Sunday that he hopes to work with President-elect Trump to raise the minimum wage from $7.25 an hour, the federal standard last raised in 2009.
In an interview on NBC News’s “Meet the Press,” host Kristen Welker asked Sanders if he thinks he can work with Trump, who recently told her that the minimum wage is too low but that raising the federal minimum wage can be complicated.
“I surely hope so,” Sanders told Welker. “It is — I tried, I think, two years ago to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour. We got zero. Not one Republican supported it. We ended up with 42 votes.”
“Look, at $7.25 per hour, minimum wage is an absolute disgrace. We have millions of people in this country who are working for starvation wages that cannot afford housing, that cannot afford to adequately feed their kids.”
“So yes, we have got to raise the minimum wage,” he said. “I would suggest to be 17 bucks an hour, but I hope that we can work in a bipartisan way to finally accomplish that goal.”