Jesse Jackson Slams Newt Gingrich Over Food Stamps

And the food-stamp fracas continues!

The Reverend Jesse Jackson has just blasted Newt Gingrich for his comments that Barack Obama is a “food stamp” president, and has come out against the Republican presidential hopeful, telling Politico: “Food stamps (are the) lifeline for many Americans — they help farmers, they help the grocery industry, and mostly, they help people who are malnourished.”

But wait, there’s more!

“For him to disparage the food stamps is to not understand the 50 million in the country living in poverty. He is showing disdain for the poor,” Jackson said.

Now, in case you don’t remember how began the SNAP — Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program — shitshow, Newt Gingrich told reporters in December that “you don’t get food stamps. … You get a credit card and the credit card can be used for anything. We’ve had people take their food-stamp money and use it to go to Hawaii.”

He also said that millionaires can get food stamps, which is totally untrue.

Then, he continued on with his anti-SNAP screed, telling reporters several days later that Obama is the “finest food-stamp president.”

Gingrich’s comments have come under fire not just from political opponents, but from media and economic analysts.

Many have reported that SNAP enrollment first grew during George W. Bush’s presidency, not Obama’s tenure. The Bush administration aggressively courted eligible Americans to seek benefits, CNBC reports. Experts say that SNAP has ballooned mainly because of the economy — not Obama.

The latest in the SNAP spat stems from Gingrich’s comments Monday night, when a Fox News reporter accused the candidate of belittling people with “racially charged remarks,” Politico notes.