Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., lashed out at FOX Business correspondent Hillary Vaughn on camera for asking about his proposed 32-hour workweek, warning the reporter, “I can yell as loud as you.”
Catching up with Sanders in the halls of Capitol Hill on Thursday, Vaughn attempted to ask Sanders a question, but the senator interrupted her several times.
Her full question was intended to be, “Democrats want businesses to be taxed more… pay their workers more… lower prices… and now pay their workers not to work – how are businesses going to survive all that?”
Sanders, who is chairman of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) and a self-described democratic socialist, on Thursday led the committee in a hearing titled, “Workers Should Benefit from New Technology and Increased Productivity: The Need for a 32-Hour Work Week with No Loss in Pay.”
BERNIE SANDERS MOVES TO REDUCE WORK HOURS FOR MILLIONS OF AMERICANS
In his opening remarks and a press release, he argued that “this is not a radical idea,” citing how France, the seventh-largest economy in the world, has a 35-hour work week and is considering reducing it to 32, while the work weeks in Norway and Denmark are about 37 hours and Belgium has already adopted a four-day workweek.
The independent senator introduced a bill, titled the Thirty-Two Hour Workweek Act, that would reduce the standard 40-hour workweek by lowering the threshold for overtime pay for non-exempt employees.
When Vaughn stopped the senator to ask a question about the proposal, Sanders asked what network she worked for. Vaughn told him FOX Business.
“It seems like Democrats want businesses to be taxed more, pay their workers—” Vaughn began, but Sanders interjected.
“Really?! Is that what you think?” the senator said, as Vaughn tried to continue the sentence.
“Pay their — pay their workers,” she said, but Sanders again interrupted, “Excuse me, excuse me.”
“I didn’t get to ask the question,” she insisted.
MORE THAN 60 COMPANIES TRIED A FOUR-DAY WORK WEEK AND RESULTS SHOW WHY 92% ARE KEEPING IT
“We held a hearing on a 32-hour workweek,” Sanders said. “Because what we have seen is that over the last 50 years, despite a huge increase in worker productivity, almost all of the wealth has gone to the top 1%, while 60% of the people living paycheck to paycheck. Many of our people are exhausted. We work longest hours of any people in the industrialized world. I think it’s time for a shortened workweek.”
“Can I ask you a question about that? It seems like Democrats want businesses to be taxed more…” Vaughn tried to begin asking once more, but Sanders again cut her off several times.
Vaughn was not shouting, but Sanders snapped, “I can yell as loud as you!”
“How are businesses going to survive that? That’s the question. How can businesses survive all of those proposals?” she insisted.
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“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 said in response. “I think that billionaires have got to start paying their fair share of taxes. Thank you.”