The United States government hands out 79 billion dollars every January to poor people.
Posted by The Daily Show: Ears Edition, Checked
- Sources
- 4 contradict3 context
- Said
- 1 time·
- Confidence
- 60%
The Daily Show: Ears EditionAug 28, 2026
The $79 billion figure matches federal SNAP spending for fiscal 2013, the era of Stuart Varney's 2013 remark, not 2026. Current sources show roughly $100 billion or more a year, spent by fiscal year rather than handed out every January, so the claim as made on 2026-08-28 is contradicted.
A played clip makes this claim. Listeners heard it, so it counts against the post.
This claim is about the present, so it is judged as of the day it was checked.
What was said
… He does segments that would make Ebenezer Scrooge go, "Hey, take it easy. These are people we're talking about." So, for dessert tonight, we serve you baked a last hole. The handout nation rolls on. We hand out 79 billion dollars every January to the so called poor people. You're not being mean to poor people today. I am. I am being mean to poor people, frankly, I am. Many poor families have homes with cable TVs, cell phones, computers, you name it, much, much more. 99% of them have a refrigerator. 81% have a microwave. …
The Daily Show: Ears Edition · · from the transcriptPost →What we found
Contradicts. PolitiFact reports SNAP spending of $79.64 billion in fiscal 2013, the source of the $79 billion figure. That is a historical number, not the current annual total.[1]
Contradicts. Pew reports federal SNAP spending of $100.3 billion in fiscal 2024, and USAFacts reports $101.7 billion for fiscal 2025, both well above $79 billion.[5][6]
Contradicts. Federal SNAP spending is reported by fiscal year, which starts in October, not as a single payment every January, so the 'every January' timing is not supported.[3][5]
Context. The Varney quote dates to a 2013 Fox News interview, and SNAP participation fell about 10% from January 2025 to January 2026 while spending stayed near $100 billion, so the claim was outdated when posted.[2][7]
Context. The claim refers to SNAP, which is one of several programs; the broader total for USDA food and nutrition assistance was $147.9 billion in fiscal 2025, so the figure depends on which program is counted.[3][4]
Sources
7 sources: 2 fact-checkers, 2 primary, 3 not rated
- 1Our favorites that popped up in your newsfeed in 2014politifact.com · fact-checker · cited for: contradicts
- 2FACT FOCUS: Why nearly 4.3 million people are no longer receiving food stampsapnews.com · fact-checker · cited for: context
- 3Total spending on USDA's food and nutrition assistance programs ...ers.usda.gov · primary source · cited for: contradicts, context
- 4Food Security and Nutrition Assistancewww-tx.ers.usda.gov · primary source · cited for: context
- 5What the data says about food stamps in the U.S.pewresearch.org · not rated · cited for: contradicts
- 6How much does the federal government spend on SNAP ...usafacts.org · not rated · cited for: contradicts
- 7Stuart Varney - Wikipediaen.wikipedia.org · not rated · cited for: context
Where this claim was made
Said in 1 published post