Georgia Republican Accuses Free Lunch Programs of Teaching Kids How to 'Sponge Off the Government': 'I Worked My Way Through School'

Georgia Rep. Rich McCormick accused free lunch programs of teaching school-aged children how to "sponge off the government" during a CNN interview on Tuesday.

When asked by CNN anchor Pamela Brown whether he would support eliminating free school breakfasts and lunches for vulnerable kids, McCormick turned to his upbringing.

"I worked my way through high school," McCormick stated in a clip circulating on X. "I worked before I was 13 years old. I was picking berries in the field before they had child labor laws that precluded that. I was a paper boy, and when I was in high school, I worked my entire way through."

"You're telling me that kids that stay at home instead of going to work at Burger King or McDonald's during the summer should stay at home and get their free lunch instead of going to work?" he continued.

When Brown pushed the Republican representative on whether he believes all the kids in his district who qualify for free meals are sitting at home and not working, he responded in the negative but added kids need to learn to "have value and work skills for the future."

"How many people got their start in fast food restaurants when they were kids versus just giving a blanket rule that gives all kids lunches in high school that are capable of actually going out and getting a job...thinking about their future instead of thinking about how they're going to sponge out the government when they don't need to," he added.

In regard to whether he supports child cancer research, which President Trump recently defunded, McCormick turned to AI.

"I'm an ER doc and I know that philanthropy is where you get most of your money for childhood cancer research," he started. "For example, you look at what the president just proposed—a half a trillion dollar spending bill on AI to produce cancer early detection in the first stage on most body parts."

"That's his spending bill; where he wants to increase cancer research," McCormick continued. "It's just about what pile of money it comes out of."

Internet users were sickened by McCormick's insistence that children should work for their meals.

"KIDS SHOULD NOT HAVE TO WORK TO EAT LUNCH IN SCHOOL," one X user noted. "It's like anything that makes life easier and better they want to get rid of."