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.
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fell about 10% from January 2025 to January 2026 while spending stayed near $100 billion, so the claim was outdated when posted.[2][7]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