A pair of Democratic senators are being mocked for their embarrassing lack of understanding of sports and what they called out as a “gender pay gap.”
Sen. Jacky Rosen of Arizona and 2020 presidential contender from Minnesota, Sen. Amy Klobuchar, attempted to condemn the disparity in pay between male and female athletes in a letter to the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation on Thursday.
The topic has been all the rage for Democrats especially in light of the attention it has garnered with the U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team victory in the World Cup and the outspoken team co-captain Megan Rapinoe essentially making “equal pay” a battle cry.
The senators addressed Republican Sen. Roger Wicker of Mississippi in a letter asking for the committee to hold a hearing on the pay differences between U.S. men’s and women’s sports.
“Despite the women team’s extraordinary success, reports have highlighted the fact that USWNT players have made only 38 percent of what players on the USMNT earned in previous years, and recent reports have made clear that disparities still persist,” Rosen and Klobuchar wrote on the U.S. soccer team.
“The gender pay gap is not limited to soccer—it spans many sports in the United States,” they continued, citing examples in tennis and in the Professional Golf Association Tour as well as the threatened boycott of the 2018 Winter Olympics by the U.S. Women’s Hockey Team over pay issues.
But the Democratic lawmakers’ reference to the pay differences in basketball took their letter to another level and unleashed a wave of mockery on social media.
“Last year in the Women’s National Basketball Association, the maximum veteran player salary was $115,500, while the men in the National Basketball Association earned a minimum salary of $582,180,” they wrote.
Maybe congress should pass a law that changes the pay rate of congressmen and senators based on their accomplishments. Then, maybe, these stupid senators will realize why WNBA players make less money than NBA stars.
— BBWFan (@bbwfan12) July 12, 2019
Apparently the senators did not understand the simple facts that set the men in the NBA apart from WNBA players. The NBA’s television deal with ESPN and TNT, in contracts running through the 2024-25 season, is worth a whopping $24 billion.
Democrat senators want to know why WNBA players make less money than men. I can tell them why. How many people can even name one star WNBA player. They should be able to figure it out from there.
— Dave (@springerbuster1) July 13, 2019
NBA players are getting paid more than the women of the WNBA for obvious reasons, with the global brand sporting superstars like LeBron James, Kevin Durant and Stephen Curry. Though the women’s team signed an extension of their television deal with ESPN that will run through 2022, that pays out only $12 million a year.
And while Rosen and Klobuchar wonder why the women are not enjoying the same level of financial rewards as the men’s teams, the issue is not new. A YouTube compilation last year purported to prove exactly “why the WNBA has a wage gap.”
(Video: YouTube)
The senators were mocked on Twitter for their clueless take on basketball and basic math.
I really wish those two Villages had managed to keep their Idiots at home.
“Last year in the Women’s National Basketball Association, the maximum veteran player salary was $115,500, while the men in… https://t.co/5JIdlxCQbd
— Dave Riddle (@DavesDroppings) July 12, 2019
This has to be parody.
Nobody in the US Senate could actually be this ignorant about economics and how markets workhttps://t.co/dGkV2jUG4J
— Ross ?? (@12ossT) July 13, 2019
“Why do local bar bands make less money than Guns N Roses!?!?”
— OccupyDemocratsLogic (@DemocratsLogic) July 13, 2019
If they don’t understand any more about economics than to ask that question, how did they get elected?
— Tim Young (@youngtim1) July 13, 2019
Basic economics the WNBA in no way brings in the same revenue the NBA does. This is not rocket science. This is Senators pandering to the 8%… This is the kind of BS that needs to stop…
— Ricky Messi (@rickymessi9) July 13, 2019
The public wants to know why congress members make more money than hard working Americans
— David Jones (@Bearcat2O11) July 12, 2019
If the answer isn’t obvious to these jokers then they have no business being senators.
— john honos (@jbhonos) July 12, 2019
Have you seen the amount of people in stands at wnba game. High school football games draw a bigger crowd. Just saying.
— Brandon Stallings (@stallings_5) July 13, 2019
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Originally from New York, Powers graduated from New York University and eventually made her way to sunny South Florida where she has been writing for the BizPacReview team since 2015.
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