Conservative commentator Ben Shapiro said that it is a “you problem” if a person has to “work more than one job to have a roof over your head or food on the table.”
“Well, the fact is if you had to work more than one job to have a roof over your head or food on the table, you probably shouldn't have taken the job that's not paying you enough. That'd be a you problem,” Shapiro said Wednesday.
Ben Shapiro: "If you had to work more than one job to have a roof over your head or food on the table, you probably shouldn't have taken the job that's not paying you enough. That'd be a you problem" pic.twitter.com/HDKSvIGBfW
— Jason Campbell (@JasonSCampbell) August 14, 2019
He went on to say that it’s “not true” that the “vast majority of people in the United States are working two jobs,” citing recent data from the U.S. Census Bureau that shows “a small but steady number of American workers have more than one job because either they need extra income or because they want to gain more experience or explore different interests.”
Shapiro’s remarks sparked a flood of criticism from a number of people on Twitter.
Ben Shapiro is the child of a television studio executive and film composer and grew up in Hollywood as a private school dilettante who got his high school education for a tuition comparable to most Ivy League universities. Of course he doesn't understand the working class.
— Charlotte Clymer️ (@cmclymer) August 14, 2019
Poor people: ask to be paid a living wage
— nandini (@najmera24) August 14, 2019
Ben Shapiro: pic.twitter.com/eAhefdNj0Y
Ken Cuccinelli: The Statue of Liberty meant Europeans....No one can top my idiotic comments
— Nathan Platt (@nathanplatt) August 14, 2019
Steve KingSteven (Steve) Arnold KingNebraska Democratic Party Chair: Rural vote should be 'bedrock' of party With surge in anti-Semitism, political leaders need to be aggressive and reflective in response Steve King challenger: 2020 Democrats have 'huge' opportunity to win over rural America MORE: Hold my beer....rape....incest...would we have a population without it....
Ben Shapiro: it's poor people's fault they have to work hard.
GOP: Why do people hate us? pic.twitter.com/WJWDh5MCid
nobody:
— (@thenameisjamal) August 15, 2019
absolutely no one:
not a single soul on this earth:
ben shapiro: pic.twitter.com/XtwL2kDuTP
Poor people- exist
— Jhekson (@JheksonM) August 14, 2019
Ben Shapiro- pic.twitter.com/A4Thr3O2Ox
Shapiro took to Twitter later on Wednesday to further explain his remarks, saying: “The point I am making, of course, is that you cannot dictate that a job pay you what you wish it paid you.”
“That is obvious, and why it is foolishness for politicians to claim that the economy can be structured to force your desired level of pay from a job you chose to take,” he continued.
He added in another tweet that “the answer to the problem of taking a job that you feel underpays you is to (a) not take the job, as I suggest here, or (b) not live beyond your means. It is not to restructure the economy in line with your utopian view of what you deserve from others.”
The point I am making, of course, is that you cannot dictate that a job pay you what you wish it paid you. That is obvious, and why it is foolishness for politicians to claim that the economy can be structured to force your desired level of pay from a job you chose to take. https://t.co/F77kVAKI7S
— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) August 14, 2019
The answer to the problem of taking a job that you feel underpays you is to (a) not take the job, as I suggest here, or (b) not live beyond your means. It is not to restructure the economy in line with your utopian view of what you deserve from others.
— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) August 14, 2019
This is perfectly clear in context; the comment immediately follows a line from Kamala Harris
— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) August 14, 2019Kamala Devi HarrisHarris on 2020 endorsement: 'I am not thinking about it right now' Panel: Is Kamala Harris a hypocrite for mulling a Joe Biden endorsement? The Hill's Morning Report — Dems detail case to remove Trump for abuse of power MORE claiming that no one should have to work two jobs.
And by the way, I have worked multiple jobs for most of my career.
— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) August 14, 2019
I do agree with this! I also agree that employers have no obligation to concede to such demands. https://t.co/peIUVyoc4N
— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) August 14, 2019
Shapiro said his comments follow "a line from Kamala Harris claiming that no one should have to work two jobs."
During the Democratic presidential debates in June, Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) argued that no one should have to work more than one job in order to pay their bills.
She said during the debates that she was “meeting people working two and three jobs.”
While commenting on job growth in America that President Trump
Donald John TrumpKaine: Obama called Trump a 'fascist' during 2016 campaign Kaine: GOP senators should 'at least' treat Trump trial with seriousness of traffic court Louise Linton, wife of Mnuchin, deletes Instagram post in support of Greta Thunberg MORE has boasted, Harris said: “Well yeah, people in America are working.”
“They're working two and three jobs,” Harris continued. “So when we talk about jobs, let's be really clear: In our America, no one should have to work more than one job to have a roof over their head and food on their table."
According to Bloomberg, the rate of people holding multiple jobs in America has remained steady around the fifth percentile for the better part of a decade, despite record low unemployment numbers last year.
Although hiring gains last year surpassed those in 2017, the report found that wage gains haven't kept up with job gains and have remained moderate, prompting some workers to turn to multiple jobs.
