Republican Slammed After Telling SNAP Recipients to 'Stop Smoking Crack'

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: Newsweek

Oct 30, 2025 at 11:35 PM EDT


Republican U.S. Representative Clay Higgins of Louisiana is facing backlash online after saying that Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) recipients who don't have one month of groceries stockpiled should never receive the benefit again and added, "because wow, stop smoking crack." Newsweek reached out to Higgins' office via phone Thursday night for comment after hours and left a message.

Why It Matters

The fate of SNAP has become a critical flashpoint in the ongoing federal government shutdown, with nearly 42 million Americans facing potential interruptions in food assistance. The benefits are expected to stop being issued on November 1, which has prompted Democratic Governor of New York Kathy Hochul to declare a state of emergency and calls for GOP House Speaker Mike Johnson to open Congress to vote on a bill to fund the program.

The controversy sheds light on broader policy and cultural battles over safety net programs, the federal budget and the use of political leverage in times of crisis.

What To Know

Taking to X on Thursday, Higgins, 64, said: "There are 22 million American households receiving SNAP benefits for groceries, at $4200 per year on average. Try to get your head wrapped around how many pantries you can stock with $4200 dollars in properly shopped groceries. Any American who has been receiving $4200 dollars per year of free groceries and does NOT have at least 1 month of groceries stocked should never again receive SNAP, because wow, stop smoking crack." The post sparked criticism online as Higgins was accused of playing into stereotypes and questioned about how much he spends on groceries.

Read more: https://www.newsweek.com/republican-slammed-after-telling-snap-recipients-to-stop-smoking-crack-10969721

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Link to tweet

Rep. Clay Higgins
@RepClayHiggins
There are 22 million American households receiving SNAP benefits for groceries, at $4200 per year on average.
Try to get your head wrapped around how many pantries you can stock with $4200 dollars in properly shopped groceries.
Any American who has been receiving $4200 dollars per year of free groceries and does NOT have at least 1 month of groceries stocked should never again receive SNAP, because wow, stop smoking crack.

They have created this whole racist fictional dystopian universe in their twisted brains, that it's nothing but "free-loading POC" who are "gaming the system", when over 1/2 the beneficiaries are white.

From here - https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2023/07/19/what-the-data-says-about-food-stamps-in-the-u-s/

[oasis]

1. Media should put Clay Higgins on blast to the

max.

[durablend]

5. I'm sure they'll get right on that /s

[tblue37]

101. He supported the gubernatorial campaign of KKK leader David Duke, even while saying Duke was a Nazi.

While working as a military officer, Higgins supported the 1992 presidential campaign of Pat Buchanan and the gubernatorial campaign of Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke, despite Higgins describing Duke as a "Nazi" to an Atlanta Journal-Constitution reporter.[9][10]

[oasis]

105. Higgins' district has to be full of MAGA nazis.

[tblue37]

106. When he was a cop, he was always getting caught abusing people and grifting on the job.

You should read his Wikipedia entry!

[oasis]

107. The worst human beings: Bent coppers

[rampartd]

2. a month's worth of food?

i try to keep about that in case of hurricane,

but this shutdown will last much longer than a month. who is harvesting and processing the food for next month, and the month after that?

[thesquanderer]

33. Even if the $4200 avg figure is correct, that's $11.50/day... per *household*, not per person.

What money would be left over from that to stockpile a month's worth of non-perishable food for the future?

Though to your question about harvesting and processing, that's not directly affected by the shutdown, because that's done by private companies, not by the government. The shutdown will not cause a shortage of food for those who can afford to buy it.

[rampartd]

65. actually, removing so much demand from the system,

may actually stabilize prices for those who have money

the rest of us will forage on the street i guess.

[airplaneman]

80. It's $4,200 per year which is $80.70 per month. N/T

[karynnj]

83. $80.70 a week which is for a household

I think the Representative should be asked to try to stay under that for even two weeks. I believe some liberal congressmen, including McGovern, tried and it was very hard.

[thesquanderer]

86. math...

$4200 per year is $350 per month (4200 divided by 12).

$4200 per year is roughly $11.50 per day (4200 divided by 365).

[airplaneman]

87. Yes I blew it thanks for correcting me

I’m good at math except when I’m not. Cheers

[niyad]

88. ummmmm. . .$80/month is $960/year.

[airplaneman]

98. See my post 87. Hi

[spooky3]

53. Milk spoils in a week or two; fruits and vegs even less. Nt

[rampartd]

64. and if you are homeless, as many of us will be when he cuts social security .....

[MaineBlueBear]

3. Every accusation is a confession

Hey Louisiana, drug test your congress critter before re-electing this piece of walking garbage.
Thanks!

[Aviation Pro]

34. Better yet, drug test the voters

Piss hot, vote not.

[vanlassie]

97. That man's Wikipedia reads like a horror story.

[Emile]

4. Republicans are so judgemental.

[raccoon]

27. Judgemental of everyone, except themselves. When it's them or their family, that's different.

This Congressman is a POS.

[Wednesdays]

32. More like "mental." nt

[ShazzieB]

59. I'll go with both.

Being out of one's mind and being an asshole are not mutually exclusive.

[Attilatheblond]

95. Stupid and racist too

They like to think no white people are using SNAP or WIC, only those 'welfare queens' of a certain color. I had to listen to them when I worked at a little grocery store in a very rural town/county. Nearly every single ranch family with kids were WIC recipients and/or got SNAP too.

This is possible because family ranches/farms are incorporated, with family members drawing salaries from the corporation. Their accountants always kept those salaries low enough that the family could get all sorts of government aid. Most of their living expenses were paid by the 'corporation' as operating expenses. The 'salaries' they drew was mostly beer money.

[Javaman]

6. ahh, a new spin on the "welfare queen" bullshit ray-gun spewed. nt

[BumRushDaShow]

8. But still 30 years late when the crack epidemic was rampant

But he won't talk about the meth-heads in his district.

[Javaman]

9. they never talk about meth.

meth was destroying the midwest when moron nancy was spewing about "just say no".

they always go for the old catch phrases. never any real meaning behind them. just labels they can throw about without really thinking about them.

while they are bad, they only talk about opioids and fentanyl. meth never every makes the top of the page for them.

[BumRushDaShow]

10. It was to the point

where some of the cold medicines that actually worked, had their main active ingredient (pseudoephedrine) removed for OTC sale due to them being used as precursors in meth labs. You have to get those versions "behind the counter" and purchases are tracked via driver's license.

[ShazzieB]

61. Exactly.

And if I recall correctly, a different ingredient (can't recall the name) that has been found to be ineffective was substitued for the pseudoephedrine in a number of products. Thereby causing people who were buying the stuff that was still available otc to waste their money on ineffective crap.

[BumRushDaShow]

102. And if I recall correctly, a different ingredient (can't recall the name) that has been found to be ineffective"

Yes. - the substitute - "phenylephrine" - was useless!

https://www.democraticunderground.com/10143335512

[travelingthrulife]

37. They likely want us on drugs. Makes it easier. Like picking pot smokers off their couches.

Look at all the evil things they are able to do using fentanyl as their boogeyman.

[lonely bird]

40. Definitely

Read a book by Sam Quinones that talked about among other things synthetic meth which is not made from pseudoephedrine iirc. This version causes schizophrenia along with the addiction.

[SWBTATTReg]

67. Yes, that was the biggest issue we had in the Ozarks when I had my place down there in the middle of the

Ozarks (MO). The police would ask if they could position a car or two there on my property across the road from these drug dealers (meth was their choice of drugs), so they could gather evidence, etc. Eventually they cracked down on them and took them out, arrested them. We were happy to help, as we were worried about the traffic coming in and out at all times of the day, and then our places all were right across the street (in the middle of nowhere, MO).

In the rural parts of America, there are spots like this everywhere I suspect, where drugs are too common, and used (I guess because they don't have neighbors right on their doorstep, watching them). It's a scary feeling when you have this sort of thing in the neighborhood. I worried a little bit as my dog would sometimes run across the road, onto their property, from my property, and I didn't want my dog to get shot. These aren't the neighbors one would want.

[Blackjackdavey]

11. Full blown crack epidemic here

in Northern New York. (Where everyone is white.) Seems to have filled the black market vacuum left behind by marijuana.

[BumRushDaShow]

12. It was "cheap"

compared to the other stuff and didn't require needles. Looks like it probably will be re-surging.

[Vinca]

7. That shakes out to about $80 a week. I was at the grocery store yesterday. Oranges are still $1.19, fresh

spinach is still $6.99, and I said hello to a nice-looking pot roast at just under $30, then continued on my way. If you want a big bag of Dunkin Donuts coffee, it's $14.99 and a lousy can of tomato sauce is $2.00. Everything is too expensive and wages for the peons have been too low since forever. With AI, it's all going to get worse, not better. Jobs will be lost, and electric bills will skyrocket because AI is buying it all up. As my husband says about 10 times a day, "Glad we're not young."

[mwmisses4289]

26. Don't you just love "It cost this much per year! Alarm! Panic!"

Then when it gets broken down, it's barely anything. Kinda like the how long people sit in traffic crap- break it down and it works out to like an extra minute or two per day.

[spooky3]

52. Agree. I spend more than $4200 a year on groceries for

A single person household. Some stuff is organic (expensive) and I live in a high COL area, so could be on the high side, but not by much. People with groceries that are much less than that are eating out a lot—or not eating.

Higgins probably never buys groceries or prepares meals and/or he’s pandering.

[Ray Bruns]

13. What an asshole! He is why I hate republicans.

No empathy whatsoever. Something is not a problem until it affects them.

[twodogsbarking]

14. Shit head doesn't even go to the grocery store. $100 don't buy much.

[mwmisses4289]

25. Yeah if you're lucky you might get 15 items

For that hundred bucks. Maybe.

[twodogsbarking]

15. I'd like to throw him in a septic tank with the other shit and put the concrete lid on.

[ToxMarz]

16. A new twist on the welfare queens driving Cadillacs narrative

Everything old is new again with them.

[LeftinOH]

17. The AI image of a well-stocked pantry totally tracks...

note the cans of "DICED PLRMS" with an image of tomatoes on the label. That, and nothing else is recognizable.

[BumRushDaShow]

23. I saw that and said

WTF is that?

[chia]

30. Same! 😂 And what produced that garbled image, next spitting out AI hallucinations that people believe are "facts."

[BidenRocks]

99. First off, who has a pantry that big?

Then I also looked what they were stocking.

AI SLOP!

It's whats for dinner!

[NoMoreRepugs]

18. Billionaire Boyz Club Eugenics plan at work.

[FakeNoose]

19. "Stop enabling fascists and pedo-monsters"

That's how you answer this guy ....

[MLWR]

20. Clay Higgins is from Louisiana, which I'm sure is a state

that has a large number of SNAP recipients. And they chose this "fucking moron" to represent them and their needs. Louisiana needs to look into firing his greedy @$$.

[Prof. Toru Tanaka]

45. That creep M.D. who voted to confirm Brainworm Bob

is from Louisiana, also. Not to mention spineless Moses Mike.

[CommonHumanity]

21. That equals $80.77 a week - what a bounty. NOT!

I am single and spend way more than that. Granted I eat a lot of organic nutritious, quick-prep tasty food. The organic nutritious, tasty part shouldn't be a privilege. Maybe the quick-prep part is a privilege, but hell, I work long hours and weekends to keep my small business afloat.

Did this ass hat do the math and, if so, has he been grocery shopping lately?

[ashredux]

22. That is reminiscent of the "welfare queen in her Cadillac picking up her welfare check"

Somethings never change, same old shit

[QueerDuck]

24. What a vile POS

[mwmisses4289]

28. If the brief sampling of responses is anything to go by,

he is rightly getting excoriated on twitter, with several people breaking down the math for him and asking variations of "when was the last time you went grocery shopping, bud?"

[Bengus81]

29. 80.76 per week will buy little to nothing even here in the midwest

We easily spend $200 per week (for two retired people) and it seems like we have nothing when we get home. That POS is like FAT HITLER, hasn't ever been grocery shopping in a decade..if ever.

[turbinetree]

31. The asshole hasn't done anything for 6 plus weeks now.............yepper a maga deadbeat getting taxpayer money $14,500

per month sitting around taking a vacation with a mint julip in his hand making over $3600 per week, while the "average snap beneficiary individual makes around $1,400 per month" or around $350 per week..................he can really go pound sand..............I hope people are picketing in front of his re-election office and his home............

Hey Higgins as a young boy growing up in the air force ...................guess what asshole we had to have snap benefits..............and as for that picture of the pantry food its about as fake as you are..................bite me.........................

[Prof. Toru Tanaka]

47. I remember after our daughter was born

she and my wife qualified for WIC because I was a low-ranking airman and we were not yet in base housing. And neither of us smoked crack.

[turbinetree]

85. Yepper, I hazard to guess that he dropped out of College..............well by golly he did.............. Wikipedia

I will not go into what he is doing, but making $14,500 a month doing exactly what...............nothing

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clay_Higgins

[Clouds Passing]

35. Clay Higgins must be smoking copious amounts of crack.

[GiqueCee]

36. Yo, Higgins...

... you shit-brained moron. The annual dollar amount you stated breaks down to $350 per month, or $87.50 per week. When was the last time you went grocery shopping? I'm a prudent, sale-oriented shopper, and $87 barely fills my shopping bag.
I realize that empathy is frowned upon by conservatives, to put it mildly, but just this once, why don't you get your head out of your ass and take a moment to consider how your words and actions affect others less fortunate?
I'M KIDDING! It's a foregone conclusion that you lack the strength of character to think of others, or you wouldn't be a fucking Republican.

[mdbl]

38. $4200 per year is $350 per month or $87 per week

And in order to receive that much, you are feeding children in your household. Unless your just buying seeds to plant good luck living on groceries for $87 per week.

[chouchou]

39. LOUISIANA STATE RANKINGS 7/4/2025

Rankings Scorecard
Crime & Corrections
#50
Economy
#50
Education
#48
Fiscal Stability
#46
Health Care
#47
Infrastructure
#48
Natural Environment
#49
Opportunity
#49
This tells a story. Oh Brother..

[RainCaster]

82. He's proud to keep his state at the bottom

That way the billionaires who fill his pockets are kept happy.

[3825-87867]

41. $80/wk/!! Family of 4 $20 per person

But Callous Clay makes $174,000 per year.
That's $3300 per week for himself and an La. female(?)
Or $1600 per week for just him! Or $4800 in 3 weeks...just a little over the amount he complains many families recieve.

And for that $174,000/year for Clay, that amount could provide 41 families a year!
Plus his free medical for those on his family medical klan.
Plus goodness knows what other freebees he can get for working less than half a year.

Maybe some reporter could ask if Callous CLay can live on 20 bucks a week? Nah! They're too busy making excuses for Republicans.

Hey Clay, try living on $20 a week or STFU!

[PatSeg]

43. And I've known people who have received far less

I was on food stamps years ago and there was absolutely no stockpiling of anything. After three weeks, we were pretty much out of everything and often had to go to food pantries to get by until the food stamps came through.

This clown has no idea what it is like for most people and I'll bet he's hardly ever done any food shopping. What a monster.

[AllaN01Bear]

42. what does this have to do with the price of eggs ? reflecting again are we?

[Hekate]

44. Do they sit around in their prayer breakfasts just coming up with racist AF gems? Yesterday it was "ghetto" ...

…also “fat asses” I think.

So a benefit used by 62% white people and 88% children — with not enough to make it to the end of the month — is seen by these MONSTERS as exclusively Black, able-bodied, drug-addicted, ghetto-dwelling adults, with brown illegal aliens thrown in.

May the heat of a thousand suns fry them… or maybe just that Hell they claim to believe in.

[littlemissmartypants]

63. OT:

Congratulations on 100,000 and eight posts!!!

Love you. ❤️

[Hekate]

68. Thank you!

🌈💕 🐸

[kimbutgar]

46. I hope he gets a good opponent in 2026 that highlights this insidious evil quote in ads against him.

[Prof. Toru Tanaka]

50. He won 71% of the vote in his district last election.

He knows he’s safe to let his freak fly high.

[kimbutgar]

58. Between now and No emebr2026 things could get a lot worst for constituents and they might fall out of love with him.

[RobinA]

48. Tell Me You're

a clueless idiot without using the words. Most stamp receivers are lucky if they can make it through the month on their allotment, let alone having a month's supply in the closet.

[electric_blue68]

49. Shut Up, and Sit Down Racist Pig!

Apologies to real porcines!

[Ruby the Liberal]

51. $4,200 is $11.50 per day PER HOUSEHOLD

Gee, given this windfall, I'm shocked that people aren't able to stock up a month's worth of food in advance. Expiration dates on meats and dairy are just suggestions after all.

[cbabe]

54. Contact Clay:

https://clayhigginsforms.house.gov/contact/

Washington, DC Office
572 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
Phone: [phone]

Lafayette District Office
Chase Building
600 Jefferson Street, Suite 808
Lafayette, LA 70501
Phone: [phone]

Lake Charles District Office
1625 Ryan Street, Suite C
Lake Charles, LA 70601
Phone: [phone]

[republianmushroom]

55. Republican U.S. Representative Clay Higgins of Louisiana

you are a typical republican ass. Not worth dog squat but a fine republican christian.

[mwmisses4289]

66. I need new glasses.

For some reason I read that as Repiglican rep...
No insult to pigs meant!

[Torchlight]

56. Just over a generation ago, the nation declared war on poverty.

Now the trump government is declaring war on the impoverished, under the very same banner of dementia Reagan rallied his fleeced flock to.

[Norrrm]

57. It's a good thing there are no conservatives on SNAP.

???

[SWBTATTReg]

60. And I thought djt was going to, by the way he sounded when he made this prediction, drastically drop food prices

down.

Hmmm, by these comments on this post, I think that the reverse has happened, and that in fact, prices keep going up.

[synni]

62. $350 per month is more than any single individual gets on SNAP

I'm on full disability, and I receive less than $1,700 per year.

It seems to me that the only one who needs to stop smoking crack is anyone who thinks otherwise.

[Cirsium]

69. For a household?

That amount is about 1/3 of the amount spent on food per person in the US.

[patphil]

70. Clay Higgins is a typical judgemental republican who uses their wealth to decide how much poor people can/should do.

A parent using SNAP benefits to the tune of $4,200. per year is getting about $350. per month. For a family of 4 that would figure out to about $87.50 per person per month.
Hardly enough to engage in pantry stocking; barely enough to feed the family if you're shopping carefully.
People on SNAP are shopping for daily consumption. They can't possibly afford to have a gigantic pantry loaded with supplies.
This jackass shows a huge pantry that appears to be stocked for Armageddon.
Well, I guess he doesn't have to rely on SNAP to keep his family fed.

[BumRushDaShow]

73. "This jackass shows a huge pantry that appears to be stocked for Armageddon." - It's a fake pic

Zoom in on the cans and jars and bags and they are labeled with gibberish names.



I.e., it's AI-bullshit and it's what the GOP does - present "fake" and "lies" as "real" and "truth".

[patphil]

75. Thanks, I didn't see that.

The pantry may be fake, but that guy's a real turd.

[BumRushDaShow]

79. They excel in indoctrinating their zombie hoardes with stuff like that

Basically "fake" images and videos to try to legitimize their loony and craven rants, knowing none of them engage in fact-checking.

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

71. I thought it was the Republicans who smoke crack

They're the ones who have their noses up Trump's ass.

[Mblaze]

72. $4,200 per year is 87 bucks a week you schmuck

Last edited Fri Oct 31, 2025, 04:04 PM - Edit history (1)

Tell me how much food you can stock away for twelve bucks a day. That's $4.00 for breakfast, $4.00 for lunch and $4.00 for dinner.

I'm not a great proponent of the concept of "evil" but, with these Republicans, I'm changing my mind. They must be smoking crack.

[John1956PA]

74. Higgens made news when he decried that Thomas Crooks's body was cremated before the committee could examine it.

Higgens suggested there had been a possible cover-up which prevented him, a member of the committee investigating the July 13, 2024, Butler, Pennsylvania, shooting at the Trump rally, to examine the body of Thomas Crooks, who was killed by a round fired by a counter-sniper.

The voters of his district should send Higgens down to defeat in 2026 and vote in a stable-minded Representative.

[IbogaProject]

76. Well Crack was trafficked by the NSC under Reagan

So our "Crack Problem" was caused by the GOP.

[Martin68]

77. He thinks his own supporters are smoking crack. Intersting.

[chowmama]

78. Speaking as somebody who is stocking up

It isn't easy, requires time, space, and equipment, which is not cheap, and the extra food you have to buy that you're not going to eat this week sure as hell isn't cheap either. On $87 per week, you don't have any extra to do any of this.

If anybody's smoking crack, it's this asshole.

[Quanto Magnus]

81. An appropriate response to Higgins and others making this claim should be

stop smoking Trump's d#@$

[KPN]

84. I'm starting a list of public enemies right now as

I type. Right now, Clay Higgins is Public Enemy No. 1.

This list seems useful down the road a bit.

[niyad]

89. Got news for you, you fucking, lying, SOB. NOBODY I know, aand I know

Last edited Fri Oct 31, 2025, 09:20 PM - Edit history (1)

quite a number on SNAP, get anywhere near $350/month. Most of the ones I know receive less than $200, some as little as $20 (twenty) or $30 (thirty).

May clay , and every person who voted for/supports/enables him, receive everything they deserve.

[Evolve Dammit]

90. What a rude POS. Walk a mile in my Moccasins. Rich, entitled, un-feeling, un-caring sociopaths. That is the GOP. n/t

[popsdenver]

91. Do the "crack heads" in Louisiana

include the 60+% Republicans in Louisiana that voted for Trump???????

[sakabatou]

92. Republican Slammed After Revealing Himself as a Grand Wizard

[Mr. Evil]

93. So, what's Clay saying?

Those women that had kids should've actually had abortions?! He is a Nazi Mengele freak!

[red dog 1]

94. One of the replies to this jackass' post:

Link to tweet

[Anxy]

96. Lots of conservatives smoke crack

For sure.

[CentralMass]

100. Stop voting for republicans would have been better advice.

[BobTheSubgenius]

103. My wife and I have a pantry that looks very similar to that.

We both got an immersive education in preparedness and thrift from our parents (my mother and both of her parents). My mother was HUGE into the idea of buying large quantities of durable goods when the prices were favourable, and my wife's family had a small farm, even though her father worked a more common job. Apparently, the execrable Mr. Higgins has no idea how far $80 a month goes ( or doesn't go, more to the point) when buying groceries.

My late FIL's company was once on strike for months, and their little farm went a long way towards smoothing out his co-workers bumpy roads. In our case, it seems to be a prudent tack, living as we do on or near two major fault lines. Although it helps the pocketbook in the long run, we do it mainly for preparedness...and it's satisfying to know that we could put together any one of literally dozens of different meals without a trip to the store. (It helps if you like pasta and meat substitutes, of course.)

[BumRushDaShow]

104. "My wife and I have a pantry that looks very similar to that."

Hopefully it didn't have cans of "DICED PLRHS" or "DICED PLRNCF"or "DICED PLBTO".

[BobTheSubgenius]

109. We would never have those first two you mentioned, but be careful...

....don't be dissing PBLTO!

[BumRushDaShow]

110. ...

DUzy!

[Jack Valentino]

108. GQP NAZI Congressmen: STOP SMOKING METH! and stop smoking EPSTEIN!

and stop poking young girls..... and/or young boys.....

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

111. I didn't know that Don Jr was a SNAP recipient. nt