Democrats Fire Back With Brutal Factchecks After Trump Claimed He 'Lifted' Millions Off Food Stamps

Democrats were quick to call out President Donald Trump after he boasted that he "lifted" 2.4 million Americans off food stamps, lying about the circumstances that led to people losing access to their benefits.

Trump gave a rambling nearly two-hour speech in the House of Representatives and at one point claimed to have "lifted" a "record" number of Americans off SNAP, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.

He said:

"We cut a record number of job-killing regulations and in one year, we have lifted 2.4 million Americans—a record—off of food stamps."

You can hear what Trump said in the video below.

The loss of SNAP is a result of the Trump administration's failure to spend contingency funds to feed people on the program, a decision that is resulting in a nationwide hunger crisis impacting millions of families.

Although SNAP benefits are administered by individual states, the program is funded by the federal government, which was shuttered until this autumn's government shutdown—the longest in American history—was resolved in November. The budget impasse kicked off after the GOP refused to negotiate with Democrats over expiring Affordable Care Act (ACA) subsidies.

The Supreme Court sided with the Trump administration, granting its emergency request to temporarily halt a lower court order that required full funding of SNAP during the shutdown even as some states had already begun issuing the payments.

Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said during an interview with Newsmax in November that the Trump administration will require millions of recipients to reapply for the SNAP benefits they were denied as part of an effort to crack down on “fraud."

Rollins said she plans to “have everyone reapply for their benefits, make sure that everyone that’s taking a taxpayer-funded benefit through ... food stamps, that they literally are vulnerable and they can’t survive without it.”

These means tests are not an indication that people were "lifted" off food stamps; Trump is lying about the fact that Republicans kicked people off food stamps without an alternative and that many people are still suffering now that they've placed bureaucratic hurdles in place.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said:

"Reality: He made 2.4 million Americans go hungry."

Illinois Governor JB Pritzker—one of the nation's most prominent Trump critics—put it very succinctly when he said:

"Interesting way to say he kicked people off of SNAP."

Similarly, California Representative Eric Swalwell said Trump "is celebrating kicking 2.4 million Americans off of SNAP."

Ohio Representative Shontel Brown also criticized the president for having "bragged" about kicking people off of food assistance:

"Trump just bragged about kicking millions of Americans off SNAP and food assistance programs… Ripping the rug from underneath families who are already struggling is not an accomplishment. It's a failure. And this President is failing the American people."

Illinois Senator Tammy Duckworth offered this simple correction.

As did former Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, who corrected Trump's statement to read:

"We have kicked 2.4 million Americans—a record—off of food stamps with no plan to help make sure they have food."

Colorado Representative Brittany Pettersen said Trump's "lies are blatant [and] disgusting" in a post of her own on X:

"Donald Trump says he 'lifted' millions off food stamps. But what he really means is his Big Ugly Bill ripped food away from hungry moms, kids, & seniors to fund tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans. The lies are blatant & disgusting."

Washington Senator Patty Murray called on legislators to "reverse the cuts" to food assistance while criticizing Trump's remarks:

"Trump didn’t 'lift' anyone off food stamps—he kicked them off. He’s forcing millions to go hungry. By the way, you can work full time and STILL qualify for SNAP. My family needed SNAP growing up—it’s not charity, it’s an investment."

"Fund SNAP. Reverse the cuts."

Others have also been outraged by Trump's remarks.

Last year, Trump said during the signing of an executive order expanding resources for the foster care system that the Bible instructs society to care for "vulnerable children and orphans"—only for people to point out that he had denied SNAP benefits to hungry children just days before.

The president and his Cabinet, namely the aforementioned Brooke Rollins, have defended cuts as a measure to fight fraud.

SNAP fraud can occur when participants intentionally misrepresent their eligibility, when retailers illegally exchange benefits for cash, or when criminals steal benefits by skimming EBT cards, according to USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service.

However, anti-hunger advocates say the problem is far smaller than the Trump administration suggests, noting that the average participant receives only about $6 a day in SNAP benefits.