Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders is facing backlash from conservative figures over a new campaign ad promoting her “welfare-to-work requirement.” The ad features a young white man, identified as “Brad,” who is portrayed as a welfare recipient.
Conservative lawyer and activist Will Chamberlain called the ad “a massive own goal” and demanded the consultants responsible be fired. Chamberlain said, “Do not portray your core voting bloc as losers, period,” criticizing the focus on a white male.
Conservative commentator Matt Walsh also criticized the ad, suggesting a Black woman would have been a more “accurate portrayal of the problem at hand” in a welfare ad. Walsh said Republicans “don't have the balls” to produce such an ad.
Sanders’ ad promotes her ARHOME program, a state Medicaid expansion initiative. The program aims to push young people into work, study or volunteering opportunities.
The ad introduces “Brad” as a “slovenly gamer” who “has turned relaxing into a full-time profession” while living on “taxpayer-funded handouts.” Sanders says in the ad, “You pay taxes to cover welfare for guys like Brad who just choose not to work.” The ad concludes with Brad securing a job.
According to Census Bureau data, Arkansas' population is 67.6 percent white and 15.2 percent Black.
For Medicaid specifically, the health policy think tank KFF reports that 57.8 percent of recipients in Arkansas are white, while 20.6 percent are Black. ARHOME relates directly to Medicaid.
The same pattern is present in federal food stamp (SNAP) data for Arkansas. In 2023, 54 percent of households receiving SNAP assistance were white, and 34.3 percent were African American.
While the data has limitations, including mixed-race households and instances where no racial group is recorded, it indicates that the majority of those receiving welfare assistance in Arkansas are white. Walsh’s claim about Black people being overrepresented in welfare assistance relative to their population is supported by available data, even as white recipients constitute the largest group in absolute terms.
