Benefits for people who rely on the government for monthly stipends to purchase goods such as food for their families have been devastated by the federal government’s shutdown. Amid the many families unable to now buy groceries for their families, there are actually people out there who think that it’s a good thing. In fact, one woman who works as the managing editor for a Virginia media research company posted a TikTok video explaining that she believes EBT users should only receive one pre-packaged box of essential food every month.
The above video was posted to the TikTok account @toureshow, also known as Toure, and depicts a reaction to a different post by @realbritthughes, also on TikTok. In the original video, Brittany Hughes, a managing editor for Media Research Center (MRC), explains that she does not feel bad for families who are losing their benefits because of a video she had seen depicting a family purchasing $400 worth of food. For context, Media Research Center is a conservative content analysis and media watchdog group.
She allegedly did not like the specific foods being purchased, and felt that families should receive “a pre-selected box of meat, bread, rice, food staples, and fruits and vegetables. No more handing you a debit card filled with other people’s cash for you to go load up on Oreos.”
After that clip, Toure immediately comments and condemns Hughes’ actions, even saying that the story would have looked entirely different had she used a video depicting a white family. Other commentators noticed this as well, with one of the top comments saying, “She also edited out them getting meat, rice, food staples and other things she said should go in the box. How convenient.”
Toure also explains a bit more about how the welfare system works, saying, “every dollar spent in the SNAP program leads to one dollar and fifty cents returning to the economy. It also creates consumers out of people who would not be.” He uses the video that Hughes was condemning to make his point, explaining that the family would likely not have purchased food at all if they didn’t have the funds provided by SNAP.
Other commentators were less concerned about that and really focused on how Hughes should leave other people alone, with one person saying, “Why is that her business anyway? That lady is feeding her family.” According to posts made on the MRC, Brittany Hughes stands firm on her opinion.
