Flickr
Did House Speaker Paul Ryan say that giving free school lunches give children “empty souls”? Despite the original comments being made in 2014, Ryan is once again being slammed for a misleading quote.
According to Snopes, a comment regarding “empty souls”w as originally made at the Conservative Political Action Conference in 2014. An early piece from Time reported that Ryan had said free lunches provided by the government gave children “a full stomach — and an empty soul.” The article continued:
“In a speech he made at Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), the country’s largest gathering of conservative leaders and activists, Thursday, he shared a story he heard from Eloise Anderson, who serves in the Cabinet for Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, as a way of criticizing the Affordable Care Act.
Take Obamacare—not literally, but figuratively, here OK? We now know that this law will discourage millions of people from working. The Left thinks this is a good thing. They say, hey, this is a new freedom—the freedom not to work. I don’t think the problem is too many people are working. I think the problem is not enough people can find work. And if people leave the workforce, our economy will shrink. There will be less opportunity, not more. The Left is making a big mistake here. What they’re offering people is a full stomach and an empty soul. The American people want more than that.”
Additionally, the article told the story of a young boy from a poor family who longed to have his lunch in a brown paper bag like the other kids, rather than through a government program. The above quotes were part of an updated version to the story, which was meant to clarify the example Ryan had used to try to make his point after the story resurfaced this week.
The story was then published by The Ring of Fire Network, which criticized Ryan’s “uneducated opinion on social welfare programs.” The article challenged Ryan to come up with concrete solutions to the problem and if he couldn’t, then to “sit down and shut up.”
Ryan’s comments on “empty souls” were unclear, however, according to Snopes, as he was referring to the Affordable Care Act rather than the free lunches themselves. His comments were apparently supposed to show that people want more than comfort from government programs, including “a life of dignity.”
Social Media Reacts to Paul Ryan’s “Empty Souls” Comment
.@SpeakerRyan if you're worried about empty souls, start with the CEOs the GOP caters to. Leave poor kids who get free lunch out of it.
— Heather Lynn Weaver (@HeatherWeaverDC) December 9, 2016
Paul Ryan will destroy the food stamp prgm as soon as he can. He believes feeding hungry people gives them "full stomachs, but empty souls"
— Atticus Grinch (@BostonJerry) December 7, 2016
Implication tht liberal progs like free school lunch give "full stomachs & empty souls" by @SpeakerRyan is careless. https://t.co/gBlv58zh8g
— Liberty's Kitchen (@libertyskitchen) December 7, 2016
In @SpeakerRyan's Bible, Jesus says, "Look, I could give you these loaves and fishes, but then you'd have empty souls."
— Professor Pancakes (@trollprincess) December 6, 2016
Uh, hey @SpeakerRyan. I received free school lunch growing up. I didn't have an empty soul. I had a poor family & would've been hungry. pic.twitter.com/ujsFCJBIt5
— Elon James White (@elonjames) December 6, 2016
What are your thoughts on Paul Ryan’s comments? Sound off in the comments section below!
Photo credit: Gage Skidmore, Flickr