Fox News has used the words lazy, sponges, and leeches to describe poor people.
Posted by The Daily Show: Ears Edition, Checked
- Sources
- 1 contradict3 support2 context
- Said
- 1 time·
- Confidence
- 60%
The Daily Show: Ears EditionAug 28, 2026
Multiple reports describe Jon Stewart's 2015 Daily Show montage of Fox News hosts and guests calling the poor lazy, sponges, or leeches, and an O'Reilly transcript shows a Fox host calling poor people lazy. The support is secondhand descriptions of the clips rather than a direct check of each clip, and Fox denied the leeches characterization, so confidence is moderate.
What was said
… What about this specific clip about Fox News calling poor people leeches, sponges, and have you ever heard that on the no? No, I have not. Well, I guess it's time for our favorite game show: Did You Even Try to Research This? Joe Scarborough cites three words he says he's never heard Fox News call poor people, and then we see how wrong he is. Today's words are lazy, sponges, and leeches. Ready, set, go. These programs do make people lazy. They get food stamps. It makes it easy for them to sponge off their girlfriends and spouses. So, the more of the leeches that he can get to vote for him. And that's our game. …
The Daily Show: Ears Edition · · from the transcriptPost →What we found
Supports. Yahoo's coverage of Stewart's segment reports he presented three clips of Fox hosts and guests making exactly those assertions about the poor as sponges, leeches, or lazy.[2]
Supports. Mike Rowe's commentary describes the Daily Show montage of Fox personnel referring to the unemployed as "sponges," "leeches," "freeloaders," and "mooches."[3]
Supports. A Fox News transcript of Bill O'Reilly, as quoted by a critic, shows him repeatedly calling poor people lazy, which supports the "lazy" element as coming from Fox itself.[4]
Contradicts. Fox News denied it called poor people leeches, claiming it criticized policies rather than people, as reported by Vox; Vox's framing presents this denial as one Stewart rebutted with clips.[5]
Context. PolitiFact and Politico report Obama's 2015 remarks that Fox portrays the poor as sponges, leeches, and lazy, which is the context in which the Stewart montage was aired.[1][6]
Sources
6 sources: 1 fact-checker, 2 not rated, 1 rated low, 2 tier 2
- 1Fox News, Barack Obama and their 'lazy' back-and-forth - PolitiFactpolitifact.com · fact-checker · cited for: context
- 2Jon Stewart Blasts Fox News' ‘Rich Buffet of Bullsh-t' Over Poverty and Obama (Video)yahoo.com · not rated · cited for: supports
- 3Help Wanted ~ Work Ethic Neededmikerowe.com · not rated · cited for: supports
- 4Bill O'Reilly: Poverty, President Obama, and Fox Newsfoxnews.com · rated low for factual reporting by Iffy.news · cited for: supports
- 5Fox News: We don’t call the poor “leeches.” Jon Stewart: Let me Google that for you!vox.com · tier 2 · cited for: contradicts
- 6Obama: Fox News portrays poor people as 'leeches'politico.com · tier 2 · cited for: context
Where this claim was made
Said in 1 published post
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