Fact check: Democrat wrong about states with $7.25 minimum wage

Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., played a pivotal role in derailing inclusion of a $15 minimum wage in the American Rescue Plan, President Joe Biden’s coronavirus and economic relief bill.

On March 7, four days before the measure was signed into law, Manchin reiterated his opposition to raising the federal minimum wage as high as $15, a level Biden and many congressional Democrats had originally sought to include in the bill.

"The bottom line is there is not one senator out of 100 that doesn't want to raise the minimum wage," Manchin said. "$7.25 is sinfully low. We must raise it."

Three-quarters of North Carolinians polled support raising minimum wage

Manchin went on to say that Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., "has chosen $15 and, you know what, an awful lot of areas and states have moved to $15. A lot of them moved a lot further than $7.25." But Manchin continued:

His assessment was far off base.

That’s more than 40% of states, not a "few."

Manchin’s own state, West Virginia, has a rate that’s only slightly higher than the federal minimum, $8.75.

We reached out to Manchin’s office but did not hear back.

Manchin said that "there’s very few, I would think, if any (states that) are at $7.25" for their minimum wage.

In reality, 21 states have a minimum wage that’s equal to the federal minimum wage of $7.25.

We rate the statement False.