Fox News
- "Bar Rescue" host Jon' Taffer has apologized for remarks he made about unemployed restaurant staff.
- On Friday, he compared them to dogs who needed to be hungrier to carry out their work.
- It "was an unfortunate attempt to express a desire for our lives to return to normal," he later said.
- See more stories on Insider's business page.
"Bar Rescue" host Jon Taffer apologized for comments he made about restaurant workers on the "The Ingraham Angle" on Fox News.
On Friday, he faced criticism after suggesting restaurant workers who were not returning to their jobs were being incentivized to laze around.
Taffer suggested households were getting $83,000 a year in unemployment benefits. "The median income in America is only $63,000. We're incentivizing people to stay home. What if we gave that additional unemployment benefits to employers to incentivize people to go to work?" he said on the show.
Despite 10 million job openings in June, workers have been slow to return.
An Insider op-ed stated that while unemployment benefits have been blamed by some for keeping workers home, data paints a more complex picture.
Business owners in corners of the economy, including hospitality and ride-hailing, have taken a huge hit as a result of a tightened labor pool. It's caused some businesses to slash opening hours, cut production, and raise prices.
Taffer's comments were followed by Ingraham asking what would happen if unemployment benefits were cut off.
On her Friday show, Ingraham said: "Hunger is a pretty powerful thing," she said. "I don't mean physical hunger because people who truly are in need, need help. I'm talking about people who can work but refuse to work."
In response, Taffer said: "I had a friend in the military who trains military dogs. They only feed a military dog at night, because a hungry dog is an obedient dog. Well, if we are not causing people to be hungry to work, then we're providing them with all the meals they need sitting at home."
Following fierce criticism, Taffer took to Twitter to apologize. He said: "Regarding an interview I did yesterday, I want to sincerely apologize for using a terrible analogy in reference to the unemployment situation. That was not my intention and I greatly regret it."
He added that his comment "was an unfortunate attempt to express a desire for our lives to return to normal."
But some Twitter users were unforgiving. One wrote: "No more Bar Rescue for me. Comparing poor people to dogs that need to be hungrier. No apology from you accepted."