Jeff Bridges took yet another stand against President Trump‘s historic cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) on Wednesday, condemning CNN reports that over 700,000 children are now left without benefits and needing food.
“It’s really not about what political party you belong to,” Bridges told CNN’s Jake Tapper on “The Lead.” “I think we can all agree that our kids, in one of the most wealthy countries in the world, shouldn’t be struggling with hunger this way. That parents shouldn’t have to choose between paying rent and putting groceries in the refrigerator or on the table. It doesn’t make any sense.”
The Oscar-winning actor predicted that under the current administration, “kids are really heading for a summer where there’s going to be a lot of hunger.”
“It doesn’t have to be that way,” he emphasized.
But the actor remained heartened that Congress is in the midst of negotiating the “Farm Bill,” which reauthorizes several domestic food assistance programs and in part delays more widespread SNAP cuts.
“It’s an opportunity to reverse some of these cuts, or delay them anyway,” Bridges said. “And I’m hoping that everybody that’s listening can urge their senators to restore the SNAP benefits for our kids and for our families and for our communities across the country.”
Watch a clip from Bridges “The Lead” interview below:
It’s hardly the first time Bridges has joined the political fray to stand against cuts to SNAP and specifically the impact such policies have on children’s access to food. A national spokesmen for the Share Our Strength’s No Kid Hungry Campaign, the actor previously denounced lawmakers for weaponizing kids’ food stability as a partisan issue.
“It’s so bizarre here in the wealthiest country in the world. We have enough food, we have enough money, we have enough programs to end childhood hunger,” Bridges said in October, again on CNN. “To use feeding kids as a weapon going back and forth doesn’t make any sense.”
