Walmart has been forced to deny rumors spreading on social media that it plans to shut stores next month.
The retail giant has been hit by false accusations that it plans to close stores, amid looting threats tied to the end of federal food assistance funding from November 1.
Due to the ongoing government shutdown, around 42 million Americans are due to lose Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits from next month.
SNAP provides food benefits to low-income families to supplement their grocery shopping.
Usually the federal government must distribute the funding to states, which then administer the benefits.
But news that the funding will lapse prompted some Americans to threaten mass looting on social media.
This then led to other posts claiming Walmart would close stores to protect from theft, and would only allow customers to shop online. Some of the videos have been viewed tens of thousands of times on TikTok.
‘These claims are false, and we will continue to be open for business,’ a Walmart spokesperson told the Daily Mail.
Walmart has been forced to deny rumors spreading on social media that it plans to shut stores next month
It comes as a federal judge in Rhode Island on Friday blocked the Trump administration from ceasing to pay SNAP benefits, saying it would cause ‘irreparable harm,’ CNBC reported.
An oral ruling by Judge Jack McConnell said the government must pay benefits out of emergency funds ‘as soon as possible,’ a day before the assistance is due to be cut off.
‘There is no doubt, and it is beyond argument, that irreparable harm will begin to occur if it hasn’t already occurred in the terror it has caused some people about the availability of funding for food for their family,’ McConnell said.
It came after a separate judge in Boston said that plaintiffs were likely to prove the administration’s suspension of the benefits was ‘unlawful.’
Lawyers for the plaintiffs in the case before McConnell on Friday argued that the lapse of benefits was an ‘arbitrary and capricious act’ that had caused ‘a crisis’ for those who need food stamps, the outlet reported.
The Trump administration is likely to appeal the order.
SNAP is a fully electronic system which means that each month beneficiaries receive a set amount loaded onto a card, $187 a month on average, which can then be used like a debit or credit card in stores.
This can be used at major grocery stores, dollar stores and farmers’ markets — and to order food online from retailers such as Amazon.
Due to the ongoing government shutdown, around 42 million Americans are due to lose SNAP benefits from next month
The federal government entered into shutdown on October 1 when lawmakers failed to pass new funding bills
SNAP provides food benefits to low-income families to supplement their grocery shopping
Consumer advocates have said that the United States Department of Agriculture could tap into its contingency funds to cover SNAP costs.
During the shutdowns in 2018 and 2019, the department disbursed SNAP funds early to prevent benefits from running out.
‘This administration didn’t do any of that [this time], but they still have the contingency funding. They have the money, so it really is a policy choice,’ Gina Plata-Nino, interim director for nonprofit SNAP at the Food Research & Action Center (FRAC), told CBS News.
‘These are, for the most part, working individuals who still are living paycheck to paycheck.’
