On Saturday, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits — also known as food stamps — will run out for more than 40 million Americans. Those millions of Americans are collateral damage from what is thus far the second-longest government shutdown in US history.

But even as the looming deadline has underscored the very real impact of the deadlock in Washington, DC, it has also led to the latest flare-up of America’s decades-long war over welfare benefits. On social media, creators are gaining views by posting rage bait posing as people receiving food assistance living a life of luxury on the government’s dime. These videos have racked up millions of views and tons of angry responses.

Krissy Clark is a journalist who has covered the social safety net on The Uncertain Hour podcast. Clark says that these videos are a part of a long history of Americans stereotyping SNAP recipients as lazy and entitled.

Clark spoke with Today, Explained host Noel King to talk about how the “welfare queen” stereotype has long been a presence in American politics and is still shaping policy today. Below is an excerpt of their conversation, edited for length and clarity. There’s much more in the full podcast, so listen to Today, Explained wherever you get podcasts, including Apple Podcasts, Pandora, and Spotify.

Tell me where your thoughts go when you see videos like this.

We have no idea who these people are or if they actually do receive food stamps or not. I was looking at one of these videos, and it’s specifically a parody account that says that it’s somebody who likes to do satire and skits. So I think one thing is: Are they actually authentically food stamp recipients themselves?

“Two-thirds of participants are children or adults over age 60 or people with disabilities.”

And then the reactions that you see in the comments, people [are] calling these people entitled, parasites, looters, people living off food stamps, intergenerational dependency. The first thing that comes to mind is: This is just not an accurate representation of most people who are receiving food assistance. It is a very old set of tropes and stereotypes, but if you actually look at the numbers, that is not an accurate depiction of most food stamp recipients.

For one thing, two-thirds of participants are children or adults over age 60 or people with disabilities. Then when you take those folks out and you look at most SNAP participants who theoretically can work, a majority of those people are working in any given month, and a vast majority of them have worked either in the last 12 months or the next 12 months, or will be working in the next 12 months.

The average benefit for the average food stamp recipient is about $6 a day. So this whole idea that the typical SNAP recipient is just sucking off the government teat and doesn’t wanna work and is lazy, that is not reflected in the data.