Despite the company’s rebuttal on social media, Bernie Sanders isn’t letting up on his criticism of Disney over wages at Disneyland as he seeks to shore up support in California in advance of the state’s June Democratic primary election. Sanders slammed the Mouse House tonight at a rally in Lancaster, California, telling the crowd that “The company makes billions of dollars in profit, but they are paying workers… wages that are so low that many of the workers cannot find housing and they have to stay in hotels.”
Sanders first raised the criticisms during a rally May 24 in Anaheim. To that, Disney CEO Bob Iger wrote on Facebook that the company “created 11,000 new jobs at Disneyland in the past decade, and our company has created 18,000 in the U.S. in the last five years.” Iger, a prominent supporter of Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton, tore into Sanders, asking “How many jobs have you created? What have you contributed to the U.S. economy?”
Another Disney spokesperson added to Iger’s rebuttal, noting the contributions Disney parks and related tourism make to the local economy as the area’s largest employer. That didn’t stop Sanders tonight in Lancaster from doubling down, calling out Disney for outsourcing manufacturing to China and other locales. “I say to Disney, bring Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck back to America.”
Sander’s comments come as his campaign enters what may be its final phase. Still trailing Clinton considerably in the delegate count, Sanders will need to win landslide primary victories in both the California and New Jersey primaries in order to win the Democratic Party nomination for president. While it’s still a longshot, Sanders and Clinton are currently virtually tied in California polls.
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