'Sponge off the government': CNN anchor gobsmacked as Republican gripes about hungry kids

CNN host Pamela Brown appeared stunned on Tuesday after Rep. Rich McCormick (R-GA) brushed off concerns about students being able to get lunches at school thanks to President Donald Trump's freeze of federal loans and grants.

During the interview, Brown asked McCormick if he was really comfortable withholding funds that feed school children, and he replied that they should get jobs like he one he used to have when he was growing up.

"When you talk about school lunches. hey, i worked my way through high school," he said. "I don't know about you, but I worked since before I was even 13 years old. I was picking berries in the field before we 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 who stay at home, instead of going to work at Burger King and McDonald's during the summer, should stay at home and get their free lunch instead of going to work?"

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Brown objected to this and pointed out that it's not true that students who benefit from school lunches all sit at home doing nothing all day.

McCormick, however, was undeterred.

"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 who are capable of going out and actually getting a job and doing something that makes them have value, thinking about their future instead of thinking about how they're going to sponge off the government," he said.

Shortly after this, Brown once again interjected.

"But a lot of these kids aren't even of working age," she observed. "They're young kids... they're like five and under."

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