ICYMI: Jon Husted Tells Struggling Ohioans to Fix Their ‘Work Ethic’

ICYMI: Jon Husted Tells Struggling Ohioans to Fix Their 'Work Ethic'

January 23, 2026

Columbus, Ohio - In case you missed it, Jon Husted insulted hardworking Ohioans last week, claiming that no one has a strong work ethic anymore.

Husted's newest comments come as Ohioans are working harder than ever to get by. While families struggle with rising costs, Husted has repeatedly denied an affordability crisis exists at all - lecturing families to simply "earn more" money to make ends meet.

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American Journal News: Jon Husted tells struggling Ohioans to fix their 'work ethic'

• Republican Sen. Jon Husted said that Ohioans struggling to put food on the table may lack the work ethic needed to improve their situation.

• He made the remark during a Jan. 16 interview with WOWO radio in Fort Wayne. He was discussing the Upward Mobility Act, a bill he authored that would empower some states to impose stricter work requirements on public assistance recipients.

• "Our work ethic is broken," Husted said. "We don't have the work ethic in this country that we once had, and we literally have the federal government telling people we will give you more money if you stay home than if you go to work. That's crazy."

• Husted's remarks echo previous comments in which he advised Ohioans struggling with affordability to "earn more" and claimed rising costs were mostly a problem in blue states.

MeidasTouch News: Ohio MAGA Senator Jon Husted Says American 'Work Ethic is Broken'

• With Americans facing a graver and graver affordability crisis as prices go up and wages stay stagnant for working families, MAGA Republican Senator Jon Husted wants Americans to know they just aren't working hard enough.

• Husted said in an interview on a local radio program last week that American "work ethic is broken" and that federal relief payments for working families exist to incentivize Americans to be lazy.

• American productivity has never been higher, and yet nearly three quarters of Americans live paycheck to paycheck. The majority of wealth in the United States is concentrated in the hands of the wealthiest 1% of the population.

• The simple fact is: Americans are working harder than they ever have, but still can't make ends meet because wages have not kept up with the cost of living. Meanwhile, MAGA Republicans like Husted are rewarding the top 1% with more tax cuts.

• This is not Husted's first time sounding incredibly out of touch. In December, Husted addressed Americans who were panicking about the cost of healthcare doubling and tripling because of Republicans killing Affordable Care Act subsidies, by telling people the solution was simply to "earn more."

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