Jason Delgado
Attorney John Morgan on Wednesday criticized Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried for her lackluster support for the $15 minimum wage amendment.
Morgan, who spearheaded the amendment, said he spent more than $6 million and an “inordinate” amount of time helping push the amendment over the finish line. Alternatively, he described Fried’s response as “weak” and “tepid.”
He criticized her for telling the Tampa Bay Times she was on the fence.
“That bullsh*t doesn’t work with me,” Morgan said at a press conference. “To me, Nikki Fried has disqualified herself from any future or statewide office in the Democratic Party and I’m sorry to say that because I really thought she had a bright future.”
Notably, the prominent Orlando attorney described Fried as a friend and someone he once “supported in a very big way.” Now, however, Morgan condemned Fried as”beholden” to Big Sugar, an industry he claimed was against the amendment.
“She can go work for sugar,” Morgan quipped.
Fried is Florida’s highest-ranking elected Democrat and is widely viewed as a 2022 candidate for Governor.
Fried’s office did not comment on Morgan’s remarks at the time of publication.
Florida voters narrowly passed Amendment 2 on Tuesday with more than 60% approval. The amendment will bump the state minimum wage to $10 an hour in 2021. The minimum wage will then rise $1 each year until it hits $15 in 2026.
Morgan described the initiative as a moral matter, not a political one. He lambasted Democrats who remained neutral or opposed to the amendment.
“If you’re a Democrat in America and you’re on the fence about a living wage, you need to join the other party,” Morgan said.
The push to raise Florida’s minimum wage was met with resistance mostly from business interests and conservative leaders, who noted that it would threaten fragile industries across the state.
The Florida Chamber of Commerce, the Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association and Americans for Prosperity pooled time and resources attacking the amendment. They further argued it would burden businesses ill-positioned to shoulder them, particularly amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Morgan noted the triumph.
“I feel like David versus Goliath in my battle here for this amendment,” he said. “All the money and all the time was well worth it last night.”
10 comments
Adam Cohen
November 5, 2020 at 1:44 am
Love hearing from DUI John about public policy! #ForThePeople
Ron Ogden
November 5, 2020 at 5:40 am
Awright then, Democrats. If not Fried, who? Resurrect Good Time Gillum? Maybe ol’ horse face Jane from Tampa? DeSantis proved his leadership Tuesday. There’s not a soul of D ready to fight him, not a soul. . .except, maybe, (cough!) a certain Orlando lawyer.
Domino
November 5, 2020 at 6:03 am
Potdaddy is going to drive up the price of labor for marijuana cultivation and distribution.
Fried’s financial holdings and those of her fiance will be negatively impacted.
Ocean Joe
November 5, 2020 at 7:30 am
Morgan wanted you to vote for this amendment while DeSantis, the GOP politicians and the Chamber all wanted to sink it. Morgan won, and more importantly the invisible and powerless won.
Maybe looking the other way when millions of Floridians live paycheck to paycheck and have no savings and plenty of debt is not the best public policy. Anyway, with 60%+ supporting it, voters took Morgan’s advice.
So next up in 5 days, for Trump’s likely lame duck finish will be stripping health care away from these same people.
Rob
November 5, 2020 at 9:07 am
This guy sounds like a dick tbh.
just sayin
November 5, 2020 at 12:29 pm
Just what small businesses needed right now. Big Business likes this because it forces out the smaller competitors.
Sonja Fitch
November 5, 2020 at 6:35 pm
Morgan is “acting” like a rich privileged white man’. Stfu Morgan
Curious
November 6, 2020 at 9:13 am
So the typical rich privileged white man spends millions of their own fortune to try to raise the minimum wage. Do you ever think about what you write or do you just go into some sort of fugue state?
Marty Williams
November 6, 2020 at 10:32 am
Thank you John Morgan for your compassionate fight for the little guy.
john
November 7, 2020 at 8:43 am
bullshit. earn your raises thru hard work and good job ethics like we did in the 70’s starting at 2.50 an hour. no free rides. Nikki can switch to a Republican for governor !
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