The feud between presidential hopeful, Bernie Sanders, and Disney’s CEO, Bob Iger, is no secret — especially after the events of this week — but the reasons behind the conflict aren’t so clear to many.
Sanders made a campaign stop in Anaheim, California, on Tuesday, which is home to the happiest place on Earth, namely Disneyland.
And what better way to appeal to the people than to condemn the city’s top employer, right? Which is exactly what Sanders did when he asked the 1,500 supporters at his rally: “Anybody make a living wage working for Disney?”
According to PayScale, the average wage of the Anaheim Disney employee is $14.17 per hour, which is no where near the millions made by Iger, so criticizing the giant corporation’s pay practices and pointing out the income inequalities easily resonated with Anaheim residents. But that’s not all the outspoken pair disagree on.
See the five key elements of the Sanders v. Disney debate below.
1. Fixing the broken tax code
Sanders is using one of the most well-known companies in the world to highlight the broken tax code and bring attention to one of his main talking points. Sanders wants to reform tax laws for citizens, corporations and banks. By slamming Disney for outsourcing jobs, he shows how companies avoid paying taxes by claiming that the profits are generated in countries with low corporate tax rates. He shows how real the issue is by addressing tangible problems that needs to be fixed now.
2. Salary disparity
Iger’s salary was $45 million in 2015. Although it was less than his previous year’s income, that’s still a lot of money compared to the Disneyland employees’ average wage. Sanders is a big proponent of increasing minimum wage and takes a strong stance against the disparity of wealth between the super rich and the working class. By publicly claiming that Disney doesn’t pay its employees a living wage he demonstrates why his ideas on expanding the social safety net and increasing access to opportunities are important. He’s fighting Disney while still getting his ideologies and what he stands for across to the audience.
3. He needs a Hail Mary pass
When you have nothing to lose, why not risk taking on Disney? Sanders needs to win the California primary by a landslide to keep his hopes of being the next president alive. Also, this is pretty much the last big primary for the senator, this is all or nothing. He needed to make a power play that would make waves with California to keep him in the running for the nomination.
4. Maximizing air time
Sanders is reaching the end of his campaign … and also probably the last of his money. When a candidate decides to go tête-à-tête with a universally-recognized company, they’re pretty much guaranteed to make headlines. Iger’s snarky response isn’t necessarily hurting Sanders but rather keeps him relevant.
5. China taking American jobs Sanders hates outsourcing jobs to China, which is exactly where some of Disney’s consumer products are made. Disney makes over $5 billion from consumer products, and the fact that that Disney isn’t spreading that wealth to American workers probably gets the Vermont native a little riled up. He opposed free trade agreements like NAFTA, Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and Permanent Normal Trade Relations with China because he thought they would allow too many American jobs to be moved overseas.