Soldiers asked to apply for food stamps is ‘beyond shameful’: Pete Hegseth
'Fox & Friends Weekend' host Pete Hegseth weighs in on the Biden administration encouraging soldiers to utilize food stamps to combat rising inflation and 'chronically low' pay.
"Fox & Friends Weekend" host Pete Hegseth criticized the Biden administration Thursday on"Fox & Friends" for endorsing economic policies that have increased inflation. Hegseth, an Army veteran who served in Iraq, Afghanistan and Guantanamo Bay, labeled the administration "shameful" for suggesting to soldiers that they apply for food stamps to deal with rising inflation.
ARMY SUGGESTS FOOD STAMPS FOR SOLDIERS BATTLE INFLATION
PETE HEGSETH: No one I've ever met joined the Army because they wanted to get rich, that's never been part of it. Army pay has been chronically low for decades, 1-2% increases. The base pay of an Army private in 2020, $21,000 a year. Now, that does not include basic allowances for housing and for food and other items that you could add to it. But that's about half what a McDonald's drive-thru worker makes in a base pay. So you join the Army, you're not going to get paid well. Then Joe Biden comes in with his chronic policies that increase inflation, even though they call it the Inflation Reduction Act. Your pay is still low. You're paying more and your command and your government says, you know what? Thank you for your service. Here's some food stamps because we've made you so poor because of what we pay and your base pay is so low, you can barely survive. It's beyond shameful. It's a reflection of priorities. And in this particular case, chronically underpaying soldiers makes it even more difficult to recruit. Recruitment is already in the tank in the military. Come join us. You can make $21,000, even though inflation's at 8%. Good luck.
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