Christian personal finance guru Dave Ramsey started an online war with his sharp criticism of the stimulus checks that have helped Americans weather the coronavirus crisis.
“I don’t believe in a stimulus check because if $ 600 or $ 1,400 changes your life, you’re already pretty fucked up,” Ramsey told Fox News during an interview on Thursday that later went viral.
“You have a career problem, you have a debt problem, you have a relationship problem, you have a mental health problem – something else is going on when $ 600 changes your life,” Ramsey continued.
The 60-year-old author and radio host, known for his “Financial Peace University” program, also called the payments “political rhetoric” and likened them to “peeing on a forest fire.”
Ramsey’s comments sparked a fierce response on Twitter, where his name became a trending topic on Thursday.
Some critics pointed out that Ramsey’s comments contradicted his own budgeting mantras, which aim to pay off debt and build savings for emergencies.
Dave Ramsey: If $ 600 changed your life, you’d already be fucked. Also Dave Ramsey: A $ 1,000 emergency fund will change your life. But only if you buy my books and courses and pay my expensive advisors for more bad financial advice, ”Lindsay VanSomeren tweeted
“Dave Ramsey’s financial advice in a nutshell: be rich already,” another popular tweet read.
Ramsey redoubled his arguments on his radio show later Thursday, saying he found it both “hilarious” and “sad” that his comments had gone viral. “Snowflakes are melting everywhere,” he said.
According to Ramsey, anyone who thinks a stimulus payment will blow their budget is “an idiot” because they depend on politicians to help them make ends meet.
“The point is, you ask the government to fix your life, and as long as you wait in Washington DC to fix your life, you’re going to be stupid,” he said. ‘Your life will suck. And that’s not bad. That’s embarrassing stupidity. “
Ramsey – who launched his financial advisory empire after his real estate company went bust and bankrupted him – didn’t mention the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to a historic economic downturn and left millions of Americans unemployed.
However, he admitted that he wouldn’t turn down a check for $ 600 if presented to him.
“I was broke and I never thought $ 600 would change my life even then, when $ 600 was a lot of money,” he said. Would $ 600 help? Yes, if you give it to me, I will take it. “