In his speech Wednesday morning, Donald Trump said the economy was rigged “by donors who want to keep wages down.”
Count Trump as one of those donors. He has said wages are “too high.” Last month, he said there shouldn’t be a federal minimum wage. Just months before that, he said, “we have to leave it the way it is.”
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Donald Trump on setting wages: “Because it’s not just the political system that’s rigged, it’s the whole economy. Rigged by big donors who want to keep wages down. Its rigged by big business who want to leave our country, fire our workers, and sell their products back into the United States with absolutely no consequences for them. It’s rigged by bureaucrats who are trapping kids in failing schools. It’s rigged against you, the American people.” [Trump speech, 6/22/16]
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Donald Trump on whether there should be a federal minimum wage: “No. I’d rather have the states go out and do what they have to do.” DONALD TRUMP: “Let the states decide, because don’t forget, the states have to compete with each other?” CHUCK TODD: “Right. You want the federal set a floor and let the states–” TRUMP: “No. I’d rather have the states go out and do what they have to do.” [NBC’s Meet the Press, 5/9/16]
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Donald Trump: “Wages too high.” “Fox Business Host and debate moderator Neil Cavuto asked Trump whether he was sympathetic to protesters demanding a $15 per hour minimum wage, which works out to about $31,000 per year. Cavuto noted that the billionaire’s tax plan stipulates couples earning up to $50,000 a year would be exempt from federal income taxes. ‘I can’t be, Neil,’ Trump responded. ‘Taxes too high, wages too high,’ he later added. ‘We’re not going to be able to compete against the world. I hate to say it, but we have to leave it the way it is. People have to go out, they have to work really hard and they have to get into that upper stratum. But we cannot do this if we are going to compete with the rest of the world. We just can’t do it.’”