Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey is getting some backlash on social media for insinuating that people who continue to only work from home are losers.
It happened during the Minneapolis Downtown Councils annual meeting today, when Frey referenced a study he had seen online.
"When people who have the ability to come downtown to an office don't, when they stay home sitting on their couch with their nasty cat blanket, diddling on their laptop, if they do that for a few months, you become a loser," the mayor said. "It's a study."
Frey later said he was kidding, as was evident by those in attendance who could be heard laughing at the quip. There is no study. He has maintained that the city would be strengthened with more people in their former offices.
"It was obviously a joke," the mayor told WCCO's Chad Hartman on Thursday. "Everyone in the room seemed to get it. Obviously there's no study that says people are losers if they work from home."
Frey says the city is resilient and strong and would be even stronger with more people coming into the office.
The Minneapolis Downtown Council meeting touted the city's accomplishments at the Armory Wednesday. It included data on attendance for events, new business openings, restaurant news and more. Governor Tim Walz was also in attendance.
According to council data, 65% of downtown employees come to the office “in some capacity each week,” with Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays being the most popular in-office days.
Of course, the comments are getting X's (formerly Twitter) full attention Thursday afternoon.