Fox News, Project 2025, and SNAP

Molly Butler / Media Matters

Research/Study Research/Study

Project 2025 seeks to fulfill the right-wing media dream of cutting vital food assistance

The extreme right-wing initiative proposes cuts to programs benefiting millions of Americans

Written by Casey Wexler & Reed McMaster

Published

Right-wing media have spent over a decade attacking and calling for cuts to vital food assistance programs, with particular focus on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (commonly known as “food stamps”) as well as free school lunch programs.

Now, Project 2025 — an extreme right-wing initiative organized by The Heritage Foundation to provide policy and personnel to the next Republican presidential administration — proposes  fulfilling their wish of cutting off hundreds of thousands of Americans from vital food assistance.

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  • Project 2025 calls for sweeping cuts to the food stamp program, which would eliminate food assistance for some Americans and slash the purchasing power of families

    • Project 2025’s play book, Mandate for Leadership, calls for reimplementing work requirements for food stamps, which it estimates could put 688,000 adults at risk of losing food assistance. Project 2025 claims that these work requirements would be “fairly limited” but admits that the policy will deny some Americans food assistance. According to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities’ analysis of Project 2025, “These requirements are premised on the false assumption that people who receive SNAP do not work and must be compelled to do so — an assumption rooted in a host of unfounded prejudices based on race, gender, disability status, and class. Rigorous studies have shown that the current work requirement policy is ineffective at increasing employment. Instead, it takes food assistance away from people with very low incomes and increases food insecurity and hardship.” [Project 2025, Mandate for Leadership, 2023; Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, 9/3/24]
    • Project 2025 seeks to remove automatic qualification for SNAP if an individual receives benefits from another government program or broad-based categorical eligibility. The authors of Mandate for Leadership are trying to end automatic eligibility for SNAP for those who receive other benefits because, they claim, “‘benefit’ is defined so broadly that it includes simply receiving distributed pamphlets and 1–800 numbers. This definition, with its low threshold to trigger a ‘benefit,’ allows individuals to bypass eligibility limits—particularly the asset requirement.” But a major benefit of broad-based categorical eligibility, according to CBPP, is helping families through the “benefit cliff,” when a family’s income rises just above the SNAP limit. Broad-based categorical eligibility allows states to ignore the threshold and phase out SNAP benefits gradually as income increases. It also lets families keep higher levels of allowed assets, which allows them to “avoid debt, weather unexpected financial disruptions, and better prepare to support themselves in retirement.” [Project 2025, Mandate for Leadership, 2023; Center for Budget and Policy Priorities, 7/30/19]
    • Project 2025 attacks recent increases to the Thrifty Food Plan, which estimates the cost of a healthy diet, saying the Biden administration “may have skirted regulations and congressional authority to increase the overall cost of the program.” The Biden administration raised the budget of SNAP when it found higher costs in maintaining a healthy diet, which Project 2025 called “a dramatic overreach.” Mandate says the Thrifty Food Plan has previously been based on just inflation, which was proposed in the latest federal farm bill. According to the Urban Institute, “In effect, the proposed changes would reduce SNAP benefits’ purchasing power over time, exacerbating the current SNAP benefits gap.” [Project 2025, Mandate for Leadership, 2023; Newsweek, 4/23/24; Urban Institute, 3/18/24;]
    • Project 2025 seeks to close the “heat-and-eat loophole” that allows states to issue larger amounts of food stamp benefits. Food stamps are issued based on income minus certain deductions, and beneficiaries of the Low-Income Heat and Energy Assistance Program receive a large deduction even if, according to Project 2025, their LIHEAP benefits are as low as $1 (in reality, as of 2014, LIHEAP benefits have to be $20 or more). LIHEAP helps households pay utility costs, and beneficiaries of the program can maximize their SNAP benefits on top of receiving utility assistance. The program was created because low-income households have a tendency to go without food due to high energy costs. Therefore eliminating this “loophole” entirely will create the food insecurity it was implemented to prevent. [Project 2025, Mandate for Leadership, 2023; Food Research and Action Center, 3/16/21; LIHEAP Clearinghouse, 2/21/24]

  • Right-wing media have attacked SNAP and downplayed its importance for years

    • In 2012, Fox host Megyn Kelly claimed that food stamps created a culture of dependency. Kelly claimed there is an “emerging culture of dependency on taxpayer-funded money.” She and other Fox figures ignored the fact that most SNAP recipients stay on the program short term. [Media Matters, 10/4/12]
    • Fox News' Andrea Tantaros claimed she would look “fabulous” if she were forced to live on a SNAP diet. In November 2012, on the eve of Thanksgiving, Fox News host Andrea Tantaros dismissed the plight of hungry Americans, claiming that she would look “fabulous” if she were forced to try to subsist for an extended period of time on $133 for food per month, the amount that SNAP participants in New Jersey received. [Media Matters, 11/21/12]
    • In 2013, Fox's Charles Payne complained that there wasn’t enough “stigma” surrounding people on SNAP. According to Payne, “The good part about the stigma is it actually does serve as an impetus to get people off” food stamps. [Media Matters, 3/28/13]
    • In 2013, right-wing radio personality Rush Limbaugh used his radio show to smear SNAP as “the buy-beer ... with-a-government-credit card program” even though people cannot buy alcohol with food stamps. [Media Matters, 3/29/13]
    • Fox’s Brian Kilmeade repeated a baseless attack against SNAP in 2013, when the New York Post claimed with little evidence that low-income New Yorkers were using SNAP funds to purchase food to send overseas. Kilmeade said, “You're paying for food stamps for foreigners? The New York Post reports that welfare recipients in New York City are buying groceries and sending them in giant barrels to relatives in Jamaica, Haiti, and the Dominican Republic.” [Media Matters, 7/12/13]
    • In 2013, Fox aired a special attacking SNAP titled, “The Great Food Stamp Binge,” which centered on one person abusing the program, even though less than 2% of SNAP benefits at the time were issued to people who did not meet all of the program's eligibility requirements. Host Bret Baier asked in reference to people who use food stamps to feed themselves and their families, “Shouldn't there be at least some stigma?” [Media Matters, 8/13/13]
    • In 2013, Kilmeade claimed that SNAP was rife with fraud when it had one of the lowest fraud rates of all federal programs. According to Kilmeade, “30 percent: That's how many more Americans, according to a new study, are selling food stamps for cash illegally. No, Steve, that's not legal. Nearly 48 million people receive food stamps.” [Media Matters, 8/19/13]
    • Fox's Brad Blakeman claimed that the Obama administration was “like a drug dealer,” because it was making people dependent on food stamps and it should instead “get ‘em a job.” Blakeman also claimed of entitlement plans broadly: “Fraud, mismanagement, and abuse is rife in America.” [Media Matters, 10/31/13]
    • Limbaugh falsely claimed that SNAP increases childhood obesity, referring to a misleading op-ed in The Washington Times. Limbaugh also said, “We got nearly 48-49 million Americans on food stamps and they can buy whatever they want with it. The Democrat party has made everybody they can think that they’re victims, which makes them entitled.” [Media Matters, 12/3/13]
    • In 2014, Kilmeade falsely claimed SNAP benefits could be used to withdraw cash and purchase marijuana. He stated, “Can people collecting food stamps in Colorado add marijuana to their shopping list? Right now the answer is yes. Because there's nothing blocking government benefit cards from working in pot shop ATMs.” [Media Matters, 1/21/14]
    • In 2014, then-Fox host Eric Bolling cited an interview with food stamp user and surfer Jason Greenslate to argue food stamps will later be used on “strip clubs” and “liquor stores.” He stated, “What's next? Strip clubs, liquor stores, pot dispensaries? Oh, that's already going on, folks. Welcome to Obama's America.” [Media Matters, 2/25/14]
    • Fox's Stuart Varney accused the government of helping poor people in order to buy votes by expanding food stamps. He stated, “What's really going on here is the government is buying votes. They’re keeping churning out food stamps in return for votes. That's what's happening.” [Media Matters, 3/11/14]
    • In 2014, when a report showed that the SNAP benefits program hit a historic low for waste in 2012, Kilmeade accused the program of being wasteful. He stated, “The government is overpaying on food stamps by about $2 billion.” [Media Matters, 7/24/14]
    • In 2015, Varney continued to push his dubious theory that food stamps are designed to “buy votes” for Democrats. He told Fox anchor Martha MacCallum, “I said to you, this is a couple years ago, I think — I remember saying it to you — this is an attempt to buy votes right before an election.” [Fox News, America’s Newsroom, 5/13/15]
    • In 2017, Fox guest and billionaire Ken Langone falsely claimed people were using food stamps to buy drugs. According to Langone, “Hell, people use food stamps to buy marijuana, that's illegal, or cocaine, or whatever the hell else people use to get high.” [Fox News, Your World with Neil Cavuto, 5/24/17]
    • In 2017, Fox host Jesse Watters said that the “able-bodied” on food stamps could get work by building Trump’s U.S.-Mexico border wall. Watters said, “Maybe the able-bodied that are getting the food stamps could work for the food stamps by building the wall.” [Fox News, The Five, 7/12/17]
    • In 2018, Fox contributor Mollie Hemingway blamed SNAP for helping perpetuate obesity in America. Hemingway: “People on these programs tend to eat a lot of cookies, candies, sugary snacks.” [Fox News, The Story with Martha MacCallum, 2/13/18]
    • In 2018, Fox's Jesse Watters praised the Trump administration's food stamp cuts and claimed that SNAP fraud was a major issue even though it had fallen consistently since 1993. Watters also said, “Food stamps skyrocketed under President Obama and under President Trump they’re coming down. That’s a good thing. You don’t want to be dependent on government, but you want to do it with heart.” [Media Matters, 2/13/18; Time, 3/30/17]
    • In 2018, Fox’s Tucker Carlson attacked refugees for using food assistance and complained about having to pay taxes if migrants get assistance. He said, “If we're rewarding foreign nationals who break our laws, why should I have to pay my taxes? Why should I, as an American citizen, obey the laws? I mean, I guess that's a rhetorical question, but what's the message that we are sending? I have to obey every law or else I go to jail, but a foreign national can show up and give the finger to our justice system and get rewarded for it? How does that work exactly?” [Fox News, Tucker Carlson Tonight, 8/14/18]
    • In 2019, Fox & Friends guest Star Parker celebrated Trump’s move kicking hundreds of thousands of people off SNAP: “This is fantastic news.” She added, “They are now acknowledging those that are sitting on their couch, they've gotten very comfortable on the couch, to say our national food stamp program is for those that are in need, desperate need.” [Fox News, Fox & Friends, 12/5/19]
    • In 2021, Fox’s Sean Duffy claimed Black people who spend SNAP benefits on junk food are the cause of racial disparity in COVID statistics. He said, “We have to take personal responsibility for the choices that we make in our lives, and to say that it's all racism is a farce.” [Fox News, The Five, 4/9/21]

  • Project 2025 also aims to cut free school lunch programs, cutting children off from vital nutrition

    • Some school districts are part of the USDA’s Community Eligibility Provision, which allows all students within a low-average-income school district to access free breakfast and lunch. [U.S. Department of Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Service, accessed 7/22/24]
    • Project 2025 wants CEP gone, ending universal free school lunch for low-income schools and districts. Mandate also criticizes efforts to allow schools to provide meals in the summer. [Project 2025, Mandate for Leadership, 2023]
    • Not providing meals over the summer creates a three-month food insecurity gap. [Nebraska Public Media, 7/18/24]
    • Project 2025 also wants to reduce school lunch programs to their “original intent” by feeding only “students who otherwise would not have food to eat while at school.” [Project 2025, Mandate for Leadership, 2023]
    • Studies have shown that before CEP, students who were eligible for free school lunch while other students paid were stigmatized. CEP eliminates that stigma by providing free lunch schoolwide, which potentially helps students do better academically and receive fewer disciplinary infractions. [American Educational Research Journal, 1/9/24; Economics of Education Review, August 2020]
    • Free school meal programs like CEP have also been shown to decrease obesity and lower school administrative burdens. [Health Day, 3/18/24; No Kid Hungry Center for Best Practices, accessed on 7/22/24]

  • Right-wing media have also been crusading against free school lunch for more than a decade

    • In 2010, Rush Limbaugh attacked school lunches and suggested hungry children should “dumpster dive.” Limbaugh provided a list of places kids could supposedly go to get meals such as their own kitchens, McDonald’s, and a dumpster, stating, “There are videos that have been produced to show you how to healthfully dine and how to dumpster dive and survive until school kicks back up in August.” [Premiere Radio Networks, The Rush Limbaugh Show, 6/16/10]
    • Limbaugh complained on his show that the Memphis school district provided dinner, arguing that it would lead to children living at school. He stated, “You know where this is heading? To hell with home — the kids live at school. You and your spouse, the sperm meets the egg, the kid’s born and, off to school he goes and you might see him on weekends.” He continued, “Going home is going to be the exception. Going home is going to be the odd thing about school.” [Premiere Radio Networks, The Rush Limbaugh Show, 11/9/11]
    • In 2013, Limbaugh compared students who receive free school lunches to family pets. He claimed, “When you get a new pet what’s the first thing you do to try to bond with it? You want to be the one to feed it, right? You don’t want anybody else feeding that new puppy or kitten. You are going to, because you know that that puppy or kitten will bond with you first and when that happens, everybody else is getting second or third dibs. That pet is always going to be yours if you’re the only one that feeds it. Well, same thing here.” [Premiere Radio Networks, The Rush Limbaugh Show, 9/6/13]
    • Fox guest Joy Pullman called school lunches a “collusion” between big business and government that deprives families of the joy of providing for their children. She stated, “So the federal school lunch program, the reason that it exists is actually a collusion between big agribusiness and big government, and what it ends up doing is raising food prices for the poor and middle class, it makes kids more fat, and it also has the effect of making families -- depriving them of their ability and the privilege and joy of providing for their own children.” [Media Matters, 10/23/13]
    • Fox's Martha MacCallum attacked New Jersey’s free school lunch programs, arguing that it’ll cause kids to grow up thinking “school lunch is free.” She stated, “One of the things that kills me is that now that, you know, there’s a free lunch program in New Jersey, and it’s for everyone, even if you don't need help to send your child's lunch to school. So, now those kids are all going to grow up thinking, well, school lunch is free. Right? And then God help the person who comes along and tries to take that away.” [Fox News, The Story with Martha MacCallum, 9/30/21]
    • As recently as 2021, Fox host Sean Hannity complained about free school lunches that were offered in summertime. He said, “They want free school lunches, even when school is out for the summer, they want lunches for welfare recipients, anybody and everything for illegal immigrants as well.” [Premiere Radio Networks, The Sean Hannity Show, 10/1/21]