President Donald Trump on Tuesday confirmed that he plans to weaponize starvation in America, writing in a submit on Reality Social that he won’t fund meals stamp advantages throughout the federal government shutdown—though two federal judges ordered him to do exactly that.
“SNAP BENEFITS, which increased by Billions and Billions of Dollars (MANY FOLD!) during Crooked Joe Biden’s disastrous term in office (Due to the fact that they were haphazardly ‘handed’ to anyone for the asking, as opposed to just those in need, which is the purpose of SNAP!), will be given only when the Radical Left Democrats open up government, which they can easily do, and not before! Thank you for your attention to this matter,” Trump wrote.
Trump’s remark is an about-face from what his personal administration stated in a authorized submitting on Monday, during which they dedicated to partially funding the Supplemental Diet Help Program—generally generally known as meals stamps—by utilizing the contingency funding Congress had put in place.
The truth that Trump stated he would now formally ignore the rulings of two federal judges in an effort to weaponize starvation is the most recent politically moronic transfer he has made in current days.
On Friday, Trump attended a “Great Gatsby”-themed Halloween occasion at his gaudy Mar-a-Lago resort in ritzy Palm Seashore, Florida, the place he was seen smiling and yukking it up together with his wealthy benefactors hours earlier than meals stamp advantages had been set to run out.
Earlier that very same day, Trump had despatched out a lot of Reality Social posts during which he marveled on the toilet renovation he oversaw on the White Home, the place he had the partitions and flooring coated in costly marble and gilded {hardware}.
President Donald Trump attends a Halloween occasion at his Mar-a-Lago property, in Palm Seashore, Florida, on Oct. 31.
The imagery of Trump’s hedonism whereas common Individuals endure is a political present to Democrats, who can repurpose the photographs of Trump smiling amid rich occasion company for adverts to indicate simply how a lot he would not care about common Individuals.
In actual fact, Home Speaker Mike Johnson on Tuesday was requested what he considered the juxtaposition of Trump residing a lifetime of luxurious whereas lower-income Individuals fearful about placing meals on the desk.
However Johnson couldn’t deliver himself to criticize Trump’s actions.
In fact, attending a celebration shouldn’t be “obligatory” by any means. Trump may have skipped it, launched meals stamp funding as he was ordered to, and labored the telephones to get a deal to fund the federal government.
But he didn’t, as a result of Trump doesn’t care about anybody however himself.
In fact, Johnson was A-okay with weaponizing starvation to attempt to power Democrats to swallow Republicans’ authorities funding deal. On Thursday, he admitted that Republicans had been withholding meals stamp funding as leverage to finish the shutdown.
“[I]f you deviate from the objective of reopening your complete authorities, [Senate Minority Leader] Chuck Schumer and the radicals over there’ll proceed to play video games with folks’s paychecks, their livelihoods. And for those who do exactly a part of this, it would scale back the strain for them to do all of it,” Johnson instructed CNN about why he wasn’t working to make sure meals stamp advantages continued in the course of the shutdown.
Democrats, for his or her half, vowed to struggle Trump’s resolution to withhold meals stamps.
“The President who threw a Gatsby-themed party the night before he cut off SNAP benefits is now vowing to break a court order so that he can force millions of children, seniors, and veterans to go hungry,” Sen. Patty Murray, Democrat of Washington, wrote in a submit on X. “It’s sickening. I won’t stand for it. Time to speak up and push back.”
