In an apparent attempt to damage the Republican brand even more than President Donald Trump has with his unconstitutional war in Iran, GOP Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders of Arkansas has posted a campaign ad to social media that depicts young white men as the typical welfare recipients in her state.
Sanders is touting her welfare-to-work program that applies to Medicaid recipients who aren’t working but can do so. But unhappily for the 44-year-old governor, who seeks her second term, the data show that young white men aren’t those who typically shirk employment to sit on welfare.
Reaction on social media was swift. Human Events’ Jack Posobiec called upon the governor to apologize, while commentator Matt Walsh and others accused the GOP of not having the courage to post a similar ad with a black woman as the welfare fraudster.
Like most mulish Republicans, Sanders stood her ground and refused to back down.
The Ad
Heading into the election, Sanders wants Arkansans to know she is moving people off welfare and into jobs by requiring them to work to receive benefits. Her Department of Human Services (DHS) released the rule in June.
“Under the welfare to work requirement, healthy adults enrolled in the Arkansas Health and Opportunity for Me (ARHOME) Medicaid program must work, volunteer, or go to school for at least 80 hours per month,” a news release reported:
The requirement will apply to Arkansans aged 19 to 64 enrolled in ARHOME unless they are exempt. Exempt categories include pregnant and postpartum women, disabled veterans, caregivers, and those with special medical needs. Approximately 210,000 Arkansans are enrolled in ARHOME as of May 1.
Starting July 1, the DHS began “running automated processes to determine if beneficiaries are exempt, meeting, or not meeting the work and community engagement requirement.”
The program will not penalize those who aren’t working in 2026, but instead only notify them that in 2027 they will be required to get a job. “Starting on January 1, 2027, beneficiaries who do not meet the requirement will have 30 days to show compliance before their Medicaid benefits are suspended,” the release said.
Fair enough. But now the governor has stepped forward with the campaign ad that features “Brad,” a slightly overweight white guy who plays video games and stuffs his pie-hole with potato chips and cheese puff balls.
“Meet Brad. Brad has turned relaxing into a full-time profession,” Sanders says:
But you, you actually work hard. You pay taxes to cover welfare for guys like Brad, who just choose not to work. That’s why I launched a welfare-to work requirement. Now, more Arkansans are working than ever before, even Brad.
The ad closes with formerly lazy Brad in a shirt and tie and giving the thumbs up, presumably because he wants to work and not play video games and stuff his pie-hole with potato chips and cheese puff balls.
Reaction
Reaction was fast and furious.
“@Grok what demographic has the highest rates of welfare-program participation in Arkansas?,” Posobiec asked X’s AI chatbot. “Is it white males?”
Replied Grok:
No. Black or African American households have the highest SNAP participation rate in Arkansas at 22%, versus 8% for White and 10% for Hispanic households ([American Community Survey] 2020-24). Whites form the largest share of recipients due to population size, but rates are lower. White males do not lead; female-headed households and Black residents show higher involvement overall.
Hours later, Posobiec posted a video in which he laid into Sanders and the GOP for the political stupidity of attacking young white men five weeks before the midterm elections, which might well put Democrats in control of Capitol Hill.
Noting that Gen Z — Americans 14 to 29 years old — strongly “can’t stand” the Iran war because they believe it was a “rug pull,” Posobiec said that “all the GOP had to do was not attack young white men between now and election day.”
“All you had to do [is] maybe, just maybe … show like you actually care about their issues.” But instead, “we woke up this morning and we saw this,” he continued. Then he showed the ad and said he supports welfare to work:
Guys, what are you doing? … Here’s the problem. … You’re depicting “the average welfare recipient” as a Gen Z white man who’s just sitting at home and playing video games. And this group has been demonized in corporate media, Hollywood media, streaming media, all over the place, in every single ad. And of course, now the Republicans are getting on it as well. The only group in America that there’s no taboo to attack whatsoever is white men. And look, that’s what the GOP is now doing. It is tone deaf, it is disgraceful, and honestly, it should be apologized for. This should be taken down, and there should be an apology to the young white men in this country. It’s disgraceful.
Walsh blasted the ad for the same reason.
“This Republican ad calling out welfare leeches uses a young white male named ‘Brad’ as the villain,” he wrote:
Meanwhile, back in reality, women are significantly more likely to be on welfare than men. And black people are astronomically more likely to be on welfare than white people. So the number of single young white male “Brads” abusing the welfare system is minuscule. Practically non-existent. But of course Republicans don’t have the balls to do this ad with “Shaniqua” as the villain. Even though that would actually be an accurate portrayal of the problem at hand.
“Our government has systematically discriminated against white men for decades now, and yet [it] now has the audacity to dishonestly mock young white men as welfare queens,” wrote Federalist founder Sean Davis.
Others posted Census Bureau data breaking down the demographics of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (food stamp) and Medicaid recipients.
SNAP percentages:
- Black: 22;
- Hispanic: 10;
- White: 8; and,
- Asian: 2.
Medicaid:
- Black: 39.8;
- Eskimo/American Indian: 32.3;
- Multiple races: 31.5;
- Hispanic: 28.7;
- White: 24.5; and,
- Asian/Hawaiian, Pacific Islander: 15.
Unrepentant Sanders, of course, pretended the critics simply “don’t like” the ad.
“Some critics online don’t like my welfare work requirement ad,” she wrote:
Next thing you know they’ll say I should have used cookies instead of cheese balls. If you are able-bodied you should not collect welfare simply because you choose not to work. Period.
Unhappily for the Arkansas governor — and Trump — the GOP is polling poorly among Gen Z voters.
“President Donald Trump made major inroads with Gen Z voters in the 2024 election, losing them by only 11 points, a historically strong showing for a Republican candidate in modern elections,” Newsweek recently reported:
Polls from The New York Times, YouGov and Fox News show that Democrats are winning Gen Z voters by a much larger margin in the 2026 midterms, with the Times poll giving Democrats a 35-point lead among Gen Z voters.
The economy is a major issue for voters across the age divide this year amid ongoing inflation and rising gas prices. Gen Z is especially concerned about the state of the economy, polling has found.
