Twitter users berated a blue-check Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., supporter on Monday after her tweet went viral for claiming that McDonald's and Chick-fil-A were "exploiting" minors.
Former Bernie Sanders delegate and prominent lefty account "The Bern Identity" responded to a viral TikTok video depicting a 13-year-old working at Chick-fil-A. She accused the fast-food restaurant and other chains like McDonald’s of exploiting kids with child labor.
In the video, a surprised customer interrogated a young-looking Chick-fil-A employee about his age. The worker claimed he was 13 and explained that his dad owned that particular restaurant.
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"Is that even allowed?" the amused guest asked the young boy, whose face was blurred in the clip. The video reached over ten million views in only 24 hours.
In a post criticizing the fact that the teenager was working at the restaurant, The Bern Identity tweeted, "Chick-fil-A is not alone in exploiting children for cheap labor. In Iowa, yes, that's a real sign at a McDonald's advertising to hire 14&15-yos."
She provided an image of the McDonald's store which had two signs out front. One said, "Now Hiring 14 & 15 year olds," and other, "Now Hiring: $15.00 Per Hour."
The user added, "IA's proposed extreme child labor bills SF542 + HF647 was spearheaded by the National Restaurant Assoc who represents fast food cos."
"Instead of paying livable wages for adults, more corporations are paying their lobbyists to push for loosening child labor laws to exploit teens as cheap labor. That's why we're seeing more of these child labor bills at the state level like in Arkansas and Iowa. It's shameful," she wrote.
A plethora of users blasted the account for complaining about the job ads, with many reminding her that the idea of summer jobs for teenagers is "normal." Also, the $15/hour rate offered by McDonald's matched the long-proposed minimum wage desired by Sanders and his supporters.
Rep. Rich McCormick, R-Ga., comms director Billy Gribbin wrote, ">summer jobs are normal >save for college, car, etc. >most teens don’t have to support families >they get good experience, socialization, start hating taxes."
He added, "Indeed, teens filling minimum wage jobs is an indicator that adults have better job opportunities locally."
Reporter Tatjana Pasalic mocked the Sanders supporter, tweeting, "checking out a couple of burgers at a cash register = extreme child labor."
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Conservative activist Ron Bassilian accused The Bern Identity of pushing a nefarious agenda with her tweet, stating, "Reminder that Democrats want to keep you on the dole, unable to find any opportunity for financial independence."
Conservative pundit Lauren Chen used the tweet to expose leftists’ double standard on childhood responsibility. She wrote, "Progressives say children can make all the tough adult decisions in the world, like getting life altering gender mutilating ‘care.’ Except when it comes to taking a standard after-school job wrapping burgers. That's a bridge too far."
Alex Griswold of free speech watch dog FIRE tweeted, "The federal minimum working age has been at 14 for 80+ years."
Ricochet editor-in-chief Jon Gabriel declared, "I started working at 12. Jobs are good."
And RealClearPolitics founder and president Tom Bevan made the point, "Who’s going to tell them how old the kids are who start working on the family farms in Iowa - and everywhere else?"
