Before you read:
While volunteering at a soup kitchen on Friday, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak was filmed asking a homeless man if he works in business, sparking criticism online.
The video shows Sunak greeting and serving breakfast to a homeless man.
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When the man asks Sunak if he is “sorting the economy out”, he responds that he is trying to. He proceeds to ask the man, “Do you work in a business?”
The man responds, “No, I’m homeless. I’m actually a homeless person.”
After hearing the man mention his interest in the business and finance industry, Sunak asks him if he would “like to get into” banking or finance.
The man replies, “I wouldn’t mind,” pauses, then adds, “But I don’t know, I’d like to get through Christmas first.”
The exchange transpired amid the U.K.’s highest inflation levels since 1981 as cost of living and energy bills continue to rise.
The video, originally posted by ITV News on Dec. 23, has garnered over 11 million views on Twitter.
Twitter users voiced their opinions of the video, with some criticizing Sunak for lacking awareness of the lives of average Britons.
“This makes me so angry. When you’re Prime Minister, you don’t volunteer in a soup kitchen. You legislate to ensure soup kitchens aren’t necessary,” one user wrote, garnering over 12,600 likes.
“He could literally set that guy and his future family up for life for generations with the change in his pocket,” wrote another user.
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