Far-right commentators attacked Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders’ welfare-work ad for portraying a white male gamer as choosing not to work; some said it should have shown a Black person, while others claimed it singled out white men.
Sanders’ commercial depicts “Brad,” a gamer eating chips and playing video games, and says taxpayers fund welfare for people who choose not to work. It calls on young, healthy people receiving assistance to work, go to school or volunteer. Arkansas began imposing new Medicaid benefit limits for unemployed adults without disabilities in July.
Matt Walsh and pastor Joel Webbon said the ad should have featured a Black person; Walsh also asserted that women and Black people are more likely to receive welfare than men and white people, respectively. KFF data cited in the article show that U.S. Medicaid recipients in 2023 were 36% white, 24% Hispanic and 19% Black. Sanders’ office did not immediately return a request for comment.
