Fox News blames minimum wage hikes that haven't even happened for drop in McDonald's profits

Fox News hosts on Wednesday agreed that McDonald's quarterly profits had dropped by 30 percent because workers had called for an increase in the minimum wage.

"Workers' wages might be to blame," Fox News host Brian Kilmeade announced in a segment with Fox Business host Maria Bartiromo.

"This is the implication of raising the minimum wage for certain companies," Bartiromo said. "Something's got to give. The money comes from somewhere. So at some point a company says we have a higher expense base because we're raising the minimum wage, we've got to do something somewhere else. In this case, they're going to automation."

"So, it's really biting them in the tail," co-host Ainsley Earhardt opined. "They were complaining, saying, 'We want more money.' And as a result, McDonald's saying, 'Hey, we're going to lose some of you guys, and we're going to replace you with machines.'"

"Because the fact is that it's not just about $10 an hour," Bartiromo replied. "It's about $10 an hour plus a benefit package. Benefit, vacation, and of course, we know the expense of Obamacare. As a result, companies have to do something."

Doocy pointed out that unions had been pushing for $15 an hour wages, and the McDonald's CEO had hinted that the company could accept the federal minimum wage proposal of $10.10 an hour, which is being pushed by many Democrats in Congress.

"But what it comes down to is if there's only a certain pot of gold, they're going to have to raise prices," Doocy said. "And that's not why you go to McDonald's to pay a lot for a hamburger."

"That's the thing, something's got to give somewhere," Bartiromo remarked.

Although some local governments have raised the minimum wage in recent months, McDonald's CEO Don Thompson has not pointed to that as a factor in falling profits. In fact, McDonald's profits have been trending down since 2012.

In an interview with Reuters this week, Thompson acknowledged that lower profits were a worldwide problem tied to the company's image.

"We've largely been viewed as a manufacturing plant. They haven't seen the food," he said.

Watch the video below from Fox News, broadcast Oct. 22, 2014.

(h/t: Media Matters)