Newark, NJ Mayor Corey Booker has been eating on a budget of $30 per week to show that food stamps don’t buy enough food for the average person to eat properly, or something. He says he wants to remove the stigma attached to food stamp usage. (Wasn’t the stigma removed when recipients were given EBT cards?) To further his point on Friday he made an odd claim, saying that food stamps aren’t handouts.

“I hope and understand that people are getting a better recognition that this is a program that really helps America, helps families in need,” Booker said on Friday, while describing his fourth day of living on a SNAP budget.

“It’s not a government handout,” he said. “If anything, it’s a safety net that helps people through difficult times and bridges them towards stability.”

Okay now, let’s check the dictionary for the definition of the word handout.

1. a portion of food or the like given to a needy person, as abeggar. …

4. anything given away for nothing, as a free sample of a product by an advertiser.