Arkansas governor feuds with conservatives over welfare ad portraying white man gaming

<img src="https://thenationaldesk.com/resources/media2/16×9/4715/648/0x324/90/68159a4f-7038-43b2-89e7-acdb7a6d301f-GettyImages2262660039.jpg" alt="WASHINGTON, DC – FEBRUARY 20: (L-R) U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee, Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders, and Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins sit together at a working breakfast with President Donald Trump, administration officials and governors in the State Dining Room at the White House on February 20, 2026 in Washington, DC. Trump met with a group of governors, who are in town for the National Governors Association winter meeting, after he initially invited only Republican members of the group, causing a backlash from the bipartisan organization. (Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)”>

FEBRUARY 21: Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders (D-AR) attends a meeting of governors at the White House on February 21, 2025 in Washington, DC. U.S. President Donald Trump is hosting a bipartisan group of Governors at the White House as part of the The National Governors Association winter meetings. (Photo by Win McNamee/

WASHINGTON (TNND) —Arkansas GOP Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders came under fire this week by conservatives for welfare ad she posted on X.

The ad portrays a young white gamer playing video games and eating junk food on a beanbag chair.

“Meet Brad,” Sanders said in the ad. “Brad has turned relaxing into a full time profession. “But you actually work hard. You pay taxes to cover welfare for guys like Brad who just chose not to work. That’s why I launched a welfare to work requirement. Now more Arkansans are working than ever before. Evan Brad.”

The ending shows Brad dressed nicely and getting ready to go to work.

The ad resulted in backlash from conservatives online.

“This Republican ad calling out welfare leeches uses a young white male named “Brad” as the villain,” conservative commentator Matt Walsh wrote on X. “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.”

Former Florida GOP gubernatorial candidate James Fishback also responded to the ad and stated, “White men named Brad don’t typically commit welfare fraud. I’d recommend you start with the baby-momma with a BMW who just got back from her Carnival Cruise.”

Someone else commented and said that whoever told Sanders that the ad was a good idea hated her.

Sanders finally responded to the critics and didn’t back down or apologize for posting the ad.

“Some critics online don’t like my welfare work requirement ad,” she wrote on X. “Next thing you know they’ll say I should have used cookies instead of cheese balls. If you are able-bodied you should not collect welfare simply because you choose not to work. Period.”