Newt Gingrich: 'I will tell black people to demand paychecks instead of food stamps'

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Newt Gingrich says he plans to “go to the NAACP convention and tell the African-American community why they should demand paychecks instead of food stamps.”

Gingrich made the comments during a town hall in Plymouth, New Hampshire, according to a tweet from Slate writer Dave Weigel.

Gingrich has repeatedly referred to President Barack Obama as a “food stamp president”, and has said he’d tackle black teen unemployment by easing child labor laws so that poor kids can work as janitors in their schools, replacing union workers.

He has also said that children in poor neighborhoods have no role models for work, and no concept of getting paid, unless it’s for something illegal. He has proposed turning school children from poor neighborhoods into apprentice school janitors, replacing union workers.

A 2009 study found that 1 in 8 Americans, and 1 in 4 children — of all races — received food assistance, in the wake of the 2007 recession. The study found that 28 percent of blacks, 15 percent of Hispanics, and 8 percent of whites, received food assistance that year.

When it comes to total welfare receipts, Whites receive 34 percent of federal food assistance benefits, African-Americans 22 percent, and Hispanics 17 percent, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.