Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders (R-Ark.), who served as White House press secretary under President Trump, is drawing criticism from within the MAGA movement after releasing an advertisement that calls out young white men who sit around playing video games all day while collecting welfare checks.

In a video posted to X, Sanders showcased "Brad," a young man seated on a beanbag chair playing video games. At one point, Brad extends his "claw" to grab a chip from a table across the room.

The ad provoked a sharp rebuke from at least one far-right conservative podcaster. Reposting it on X, Daily Wire commentator Matt Walsh attacked Sanders for the ad, saying, "This Republican ad calling out welfare leeches uses a young white male named 'Brad' as the villain. Meanwhile, back in reality, women are significantly more likely to be on welfare than men. And black people are astronomically more likely to be on welfare than white people. So the number of single young white male 'Brads' abusing the welfare system is minuscule. Practically non-existent. But of course Republicans't have the balls to do this ad with 'Shaniqua' as the villain. Even though that would actually be an accurate portrayal of the problem at hand."

In fact, according to the most recent USDA report covering fiscal year 2023, the vast majority of welfare recipients are white people (43 percent). About 19 percent of those on food stamps are elderly, roughly 39 percent of SNAP participants are children, and nearly 10 percent are disabled. Those figures refer to SNAP, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program — the federal benefit better known as food stamps — and they sit at the of the dispute, since a substantial share of recipients are children, older adults, or people with disabilities rather than the young gamer the ad singles out. Food stamp use also saw a huge uptick during the pandemic, when many people were laid off and were unable to find other jobs, Pew Research showed.

Crooked Media host Jane Coaston mocked Walsh, saying on X that "the results of the financial necessities of right-wing media remain extremely funny."

Right-wing online personality and political scientist Richard Hanania similarly blasted Walsh for taking offense. "This is so pathetic," Hanania wrote. "An ad portraying a white loser makes Matt Walsh feel affronted due to his sense of racial honor. I don’t know, maybe they didn’t use a black single mother because then viewers would be more sympathetic to welfare users? What a way to go through life."

Others joined in as well. One X user pointed out, "Matt has spent his entire career mocking white males that enjoy video games, anime, comics, etc. He then pretends to be shocked when political ads attack white men playing video games. Cognitive dissonance."

Another quipped, "Thank you Matt, I'm sure voters will reward Republicans for going after single mothers instead of the avatar eating cheese puffs and playing video games."

The clash underscores how welfare messaging can become a flashpoint inside the movement itself, with federal participation data supplying Sanders' right-wing critics with ready-made counterpoints.