Fox Business host Stuart Varney ripped New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio on Thursday morning over his criticism of Domino’s for raising the price of pizzas in Times Square on New Year’s Eve, saying, “the man is a socialist.”
Varney made the comment on “Fox & Friends” on Thursday in response to de Blasio’s tweet the day before urging New Yorkers to buy pizza from local pizzerias instead of Domino’s.
De Blasio tweeted on New Year’s Day, “Jacking up your prices on people trying to celebrate the holidays? Classy @dominos. To the thousands who came to Times Square last night to ring in 2020, I’m sorry this corporate chain exploited you — stick it to them by patronizing one of our fantastic LOCAL pizzerias.”
“He really does not like big business,” Varney said. “He says that because they raised the price of a pizza, Domino's pizza, just in the Times Square area, where people were penned in by the thousands for New Year's Eve, that, he says, is price gouging, that’s exploitative.”
DOMINO'S GETS RIPPED BY DE BLASIO OVER $30 NEW YEAR'S EVE PIZZAS
“It’s supply and demand,” Varney continued. “Hotels, bars--they do exactly the same thing. Airlines do the same thing.”
De Blasio attacked the chain for reportedly selling $30 pies to New Year’s Eve revelers in Times Square, which is more than twice the $14.49 price of a regular large cheese pizza.
The pies came from a Domino’s franchise at 40th Street and Seventh Avenue, The New York Post reported, adding that a woman said the business had sold more than 50 by 6 p.m. and would continue offering them until the midnight ball drop that rang in 2020.
In a statement to FOX Business, Domino's pulled no punches in responding to de Blasio's criticism
"Every store in [New York City] is owned by a local resident," a Domino's spokesperson told FOX Business on Thursday. "Every employee is a local New York resident. Those stores provide jobs to thousands of his fellow citizens. With his comments, the mayor is suggesting that New Yorkers who own or work at a franchise are 'lesser than' those who don't."
Varney recalled the last time de Blasio went after a fast-food chain, previously urging New Yorkers to boycott Chick-fil-A after a location opened in midtown Manhattan
“He said, ‘Boycott them, they're bad people.’ There was a line around the block and it's still there," Varney pointed out.
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De Blasio and New York City Council members called for a city-wide boycott of Chick-fil-A in 2016, a year after the fast-food chain opened its first New York City restaurant.
The New York Post contributed to this report.