Rep. Ilhan Omar butchers simple math to push $15 minimum wage agenda — and it does not end well

Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar (D) butchered basic math during a congressional hearing on Thursday in which she castigated McDonald's in order to promote the $15 minimum wage agenda.

What happened?

During a House Education and Labor Committee hearing Thursday, Omar highlighted the disparity in pay between McDonald's CEO Steve Easterbrook and the average worker, like Missouri McDonald's team manager Terrence Wise, who spoke to the committee.

"So the CEO of McDonald's gets paid $21.8 million," Omar said. "Can you share with us what someone in your position at McDonald's gets paid annually?"

"Not that much — not even a fraction of that," Wise responded. "I make $11 an hour at my job, currently."

"So the median pay for a McDonald's worker was $7,000 in 2017, and that is the pay gap between the CEO that's making $21.8 [million] to the $7,000 that a worker who has put in 40 hours a day[sic] gets paid. To me, that just morally does not sit well," Omar explained.

Unfortunately, Omar's math does not add up. The Washington Free Beacon explains:

Omar meant to say 40 hours a week, as there are only 24 hours in a day. However, if a full-time employee worked for $11 an hour at 40 hours a week, 50 weeks a year, he or she would make about $22,000 a year before taxes. The average hourly rate for a McDonald's employee is about $9 an hour, according to the company, which comes out to roughly $18,000 a year for a full-time worker before taxes.

So where did Omar get her claim? According to an Associated Press story, the median McDonald's worker made $7,000 in 2017, a very deceiving figure because "McDonald's defines a median employee as a part-time hourly restaurant crew member in Poland, where wages are lower than in the U.S. and it didn't use any of the exclusions allowed."