FACT CHECK: Rep. Markwayne Mullin, “McDonalds hamburgers will cost $20!

Tea Party Cat

 
ThinkProgress reports:

 When a constituent asked Rep. Markwayne Mullin for his take on the push to raise the minimum wage to $10 an hour at an Afton, Oklahoma town hall meeting last Thursday, Mullin responded with a question of his own: “You guys wanna pay $20 for a hamburger at McDonald’s?” [more here]

Claim

Rep. Markwayne Mullin says that raising the minimum wage to $10 will make McDonald’s hamburgers cost $20.

Fact Check

With the current minimum wage of $7.25, McDonalds charges an average of $4.56 for a Big Mac. Raising the minimum wage to $10 would be a 38% increase. Using math, a 38% increase in the price of the burger would be $6.29.

Verdict

So while Rep. Markwayne Mullin was off by $13.71 in his estimate, we rate his statement as Close Enough, because really $13.71 isn’t that much money when you consider that someone making minimum wage can make that in a little over 2 hours.