An Arkansas Republican was brutally roasted after claiming that being poor was "a personal choice" on Twitter.
Arkansas Rep. Stephen Meeks is a firebrand Conservative who earlier this week retaliated against the state's supreme court by defunding it during a budget battle.
"Being poor in America is a personal choice, unless there are mitigating circumstances," he tweeted. "A homeless man can go to school, get a job driving a truck making $70k per year and in 20 years become a millionaire. In America you can work hard and change your future - if you chose."
Why don't poor people just buy more money?: A Memoir https://t.co/cYay9ZVhV0— jordan (@jordan) 1542494887.0
The responses were brutal, with many suggesting staging a story of Trading Places experiment where Meeks demonstrate the validity of his claim by driving a truck until he was a millionaire.
@RepStephenMeeks @catlover1943 Here's an idea. Lets repossess Meeks' home, empty his bank account, leave him on the… https://t.co/5pfKwZGZ7q— Carol Nissenson (@Carol Nissenson) 1542483787.0
@50linesonly @RepStephenMeeks I'd like to see him lose literally everything and start from scratch with bad credit.… https://t.co/wdqteiCk1X— Cap'n Johnny Greybeard (@Cap'n Johnny Greybeard) 1542491767.0
@RepStephenMeeks Related: where are all of these millionaires making 70k a year?— James Stevenson (@James Stevenson) 1542481601.0
@JamesSharpsteen @RepStephenMeeks Simple. Just don’t have any money taxed and don’t spend a penny of it and in abou… https://t.co/6k5WBzyPqO— Dan (@Dan) 1542490067.0
@RepStephenMeeks is that how you got rich— holiday season enjoyer (@holiday season enjoyer) 1542490023.0
@RepStephenMeeks Blessed is he who blames the poor for their poverty.— keithlaw (@keithlaw) 1542489844.0
@RepStephenMeeks “When wealth is passed off as merit, bad luck is seen as bad character. This is how ideologues j… https://t.co/KdtSHiKzFo— Alyson Smith (@Alyson Smith) 1542490887.0
@RepStephenMeeks As of 2016, Arkansas ranked 45th in people below the poverty line (17.2%) but 14th in unemployment… https://t.co/zUO1HVUxNz— Leo aka 10 percent Acey (@Leo aka 10 percent Acey) 1542490204.0
@RepStephenMeeks Putting that degree from the Bart Simpson School of Personal Finance to good use https://t.co/MNFW4EpdMZ— Joe K. (@Joe K.) 1542490453.0
Meeks was a computer technician before taking office. He does have experience in the blue-collar world—he delivers Papa John's pizzas on weekends.)
