Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., yelled at FOX Business correspondent Hillary Vaughn on camera for inquiring about his planned 32-hour workweek, telling the reporter, “I can yell as loud as you.”
Vaughn caught up with Sanders in the halls of Capitol Hill on Thursday and attempted to ask him a question, but the senator interrupted her numerous times.
Her intended question was, “Democrats want businesses to be taxed more, pay their workers more, and lower prices.” How will businesses survive if they pay their employees not to work?
Sanders, the chairman of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) and a self-described democratic socialist, led the committee in a hearing on Thursday titled “Workers Should Benefit from New Technology and Increased Productivity: The Need for a 32-Hour Work Week with No Loss in Pay.”
In his opening remarks and a press release, he argued that “this is not a radical idea,” citing how France, the world’s seventh-largest economy, has a 35-hour work week and is considering reducing it to 32; Norway and Denmark have work weeks of about 37 hours; and Belgium has already adopted a four-day workweek.
The Independent Senator sponsored the Thirty-Two Hour Workweek Act, which would cut the standard 40-hour workweek by reducing the overtime compensation threshold for non-exempt employees.
When Vaughn stopped the senator from asking a question on the proposal, Sanders inquired as to which network she works for. Vaughn told him about FOX Business.
“It appears that Democrats want businesses to be taxed more and pay their employees more,” Vaughn began, but Sanders interrupted.
“Really?! “Is that what you think?” the senator asked as Vaughn attempted to complete the statement.
“I didn’t get to ask the question,” she said.
“We held a hearing on a 32-hour workweek,” Sanders stated. “Because we’ve seen that over the previous 50 years, despite a massive rise in worker productivity, practically all of the money has gone to the top 1%, while 60% of the population is living paycheck to paycheck. Many of our employees are exhausted. We work the longest hours of anyone in the industrialized world. I think it’s time for a shorter workweek.”
Can I ask you a question about that? Democrats appear to advocate for higher corporate taxes. Vaughn tried to inquire again, but Sanders interrupted her many times.
Vaughn wasn’t shouting, but Sanders snapped, “I can yell as loud as you!”
“How will businesses survive that? That is the question. “How can businesses survive with all of these proposals?” she insisted.
“When Mr. Bezos pays an effective tax rate lower than the average worker, I think we have a real problem with our tax system,” Sanders responded in a statement. “I believe billionaires need to start paying their fair amount of taxes. “Thank you.”
