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Fox News personality Jesse Watters was called out for his poor math skills after asking whether fast food workers earning $20 an hour would make "six figures" in a year.
Speaking on the PBD podcast hosted by Patrick Bet-David to promote his new book Get It Together, Watters remarked on California recently raising the minimum wage for fast food workers to $20 an hour in the state.
He then asked Bet-David to work out the math, saying:
"You’re very good at math, so see if you can do this in your head. You probably can. If you’re making $20 an hour to work at a fast food restaurant, alright, is that– is that six figures? Are you making six figures?”
Bet-David pointed out that Watters is incorrect, noting that the amount actually adds up to around $40,000 for full-time workers. The exact gross pay for a full-time worker making $20 an hour is $41,600 and is significantly less after taxes; additionally, most fast food restaurants tend to only hire part-timers, meaning the actual amount these workers earn is even less than that.
Watters tried to mull over the numbers but still didn't get it:
“So, if your husband or wife is also there, you’re making $100,000 as a family. Both working at McDonald’s.”
After a voice off-camera said that the amount in Watters' example would actually be $80,000, Watters said:
“Ok, that’s crazy. That is crazy, because that job really doesn’t require much. So, it’s inflating the entire– you know, labor sector and the Happy Meal.”
You can hear what he said in the video below.
Watters is the millionaire co-host of The Five and regular host of Jesse Watters Primetime. A member of an affluent Philadelphia family—many of his relatives worked in politics in addition to the publishing industry—he has also made millions in royalties as the author of several books targeted at his conservative base.
He is also completely out of touch—as his critics let him know.
Watters has periodically made baseless claims about wage and income inequality despite being ill-informed about the realities faced by the working class.
Last year, he asserted on his program that the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) purposely allows migrants to flood the nation's southern border to "keep wages low while the cartels make billions."
Despite being paid to rail against "elites" who are hurting average working Americans, the millionaire Watters owns multiple cars, a yacht, and has benefited from lucrative real estate investments.