Tom Perez, a candidate for Democratic National Committee chairman, on Monday voiced strong opposition to President Trump's nominee to succeed him as secretary of Labor ahead of a confirmation hearing this week.

When asked if there is anything Andrew Puzder could say in order to be considered a worthy candidate, Perez scoffed.

"I have a one- and a two-word answer to that question. My one-word answer would be 'no.' My two-word answer would be 'hell no,'" Perez said, according to the American Prospect.

"You judge people by their words and their actions. And I think his actions have demonstrated that he’s unfit for the job," he added.



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Perez, who is currently a leading contender in the race for DNC chairman, blasted Puzder's record as a fast food CEO, arguing that it contradicts the mission of the department.

"I must admit, he’s very familiar with the Department of Labor, but his familiarity is borne out of the fact that his company was a frequent flyer in wage and hour investigations. That’s not the type of experience you want for your nominee to head up the agency," he said.

"We talk about lifting up wages — he helped to lead the effort to sue the Department of Labor when we tried to make sure that when people worked overtime, they got paid overtime. The mission of the department is to help workers. He referred to his own workers as the worst of the worst," Perez added.

Puzder's nomination has faced increased scrutiny over a revelations he hired an illegal immigrant as a housekeeper.

"You ought to be the moral authority when you’re the Labor Department head and he’s already demonstrated a fairly callous disregard for the law in his own practices. That used to be disqualifying, until the efforts of this administration to normalize ethical lapses, to normalize alternative facts, and we can’t allow that to happen," he maintained.