Al Sharpton and former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich clashed in a heated exchange on Sharpton’s show Politics Nation last night. Gingrich recently made several comments about the president, black teenagers and food stamps during his campaign for the GOP nomination. Sharpton charged that as early as inauguration night there was a plan by Republicans, “to show an untied and unyielding attack on Obama economic policies,” and that the GOP strategy was to use the first four years of Obama presidency to obstruct him on any and all legislation.

Gingrich also took aim at the president, alleging that more people have been put on food stamps by Barack Obama than “any president in American history.” Gingrich was also captured on video during his campaign saying, if the NAACP were to invite him to their annual convention he would talk about why the “African-American community should demand paychecks and not be satisfied with food stamps.”

Gingrich claims he wants to “create a pathway to work for people,” and that, “when you have 43 percent black teenage unemployment there is a very, very serious challenge of making sure that people get the work habit.”

Gingrich also said that having a conservative who cares about black teenage unemployment was a good thing and having a Republican working with the NAACP would be positive for the black community.

According to Sharpton’s statistics there are more whites on food stamps than blacks. According to 2010 figures, 49 percent of food stamps recipients are white.