Conservative backlash after campaign ad shows lazy welfare recipient as White

Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders is facing criticism from some conservative commentators over a video promoting stricter Medicaid rules, because the character shown avoiding work is a young White gamer named Brad rather than a Black woman. The ad says able-bodied adults should have to work to receive taxpayer-funded coverage. Writer Matt Walsh complained that Republicans lack the nerve to cast someone called "Shaniqua" in the role, and Sean Davis, a co-founder of the Federalist, accused the government of mocking young White men. Sanders, who is seeking reelection, still backs the ad, according to her campaign manager, Jordan Powell, according to CBS News.

The video concerns Medicaid, not cash welfare, and the state's own figures show that about 60% of ARHOME enrollees are White and around 18% are Black. Scholar Ange-Marie Hancock said the reaction shows how deeply the old "welfare queen" stereotype is lodged in some voters' minds. Barry Jefferson, who leads the NAACP's Arkansas State Conference, criticized the ad for treating poverty as a personal failing and overlooking the obstacles facing low-income people of every race. Consultant Robert Coon said work requirements are popular in Arkansas but called the demands for a Black actor overtly racist.

Summarized by PolitiKool from CBS News’s reporting. Read the full story at CBS News →