Exclusive Interview With Mike Pothoff, the Homeless-Shaming Iowa Businessman

People can surprise you, sometimes in good ways, and sometimes not. On Tuesday morning, they did both for me, as I became aware of the story of an Iowa businessman who allegedly shamed some homeless people by offering them a job, then followed them around with a sign telling people not to give to them because they had refused his offer:

My Uncle Mike offered these guys a job said he was busy right now could use the help they said no so he did this !! Wow don’t give these guys any money

That Facebook post quickly went viral, and drew the attention of Fox and Friends, who teased the story all Tuesday morning before asking the frequently strident Laura Ingraham to weigh in. Her response was not what I expected:

“I don’t know if this guy has mental health issues. But for the grace of god go I. I mean, about 50 yards from where I am right now, there are about 75, 80 people lined up to get in to have breakfast. Homeless people. Right in the shadow of the U.S. Capitol. I don’t know their back stories. I’m not about shaming them. I mean, I see the point, you know, we want people to get jobs. But, it might not be, in every individual circumstance, as simple as that. So, maybe I’m a softy but I’m not sure I would have done that.”

Ingraham’s compassionate response nearly brought a tear to my eye.

The story has been picked up and rocketed around the internet, despite the fact that nobody has bothered to verify any of the story, or even find out the guy’s name. The story was posted by the business owner’s nephew Mike Woolridge, who only identified him as his “Uncle Mike.” My first impulse was to agree with Ingraham, that whatever the situation, shaming homeless people before the entire world is kind of an asshole move.

As it turns out, though, the man in the photos sort of agrees with that, too, and says it wasn’t his intention for the photos to go viral the way they have…READ MORE

By: Tommy Christopher

Tommy Christopher is The Daily Banter's White House Correspondent and Political Analyst. He's been a political reporter and liberal commentator since 2007, and has covered the White House since the beginning of the Obama administration, first for PoliticsDaily, and then for Mediaite. Christopher is a frequent guest on a variety of television, radio, and online programs, and was the villain in the documentaries The Audacity of Democracy and Hating Breitbart. He's also That Guy Who Live-Tweeted His Own Heart Attack, and the only person to have ever received public apologies from both Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck.