THE Austrian Chancellor Karl Neuhammer received criticism after a video that came to light in which the Nehammer reports that low-income parents can feed their children hamburgers from McDonald’s.

In the video the chancellor is seen talking about poverty before complaining about how the media portrayed child hunger.

“So what does it mean that a child doesn’t have a hot meal in Austria? Do you know what is the cheapest hot meal in Austria? It’s not healthy, but it’s cheap: a hamburger at McDonald’s – 1.40 euros, and if accompanied with fries 3.50 euros. Now can anyone seriously claim that we live in a country where parents cannot afford that meal for their child,” he said.

“If I have very little income, I work more,” Nehammer continued in the video, which was filmed during a wine and cheese event near Salzburg, the conservative People’s Party, of which he is the leader, confirmed.

A spokesman for McDonald’s Austria told Politico that while prices vary, it is possible to have a meal as affordable as the chancellor pointed out.

A 250-calorie hamburger is the cheapest on the menu of the American fast-food chain.

“Based on common sense, this is obviously the worst health advice you could give anyone, and certainly children,” said Dorota Sienkiewicz, EuroHealthNet’s policy manager. “Because children can’t really protect themselves from the effects of unhealthy food choices,” he added.

“In Austria, no one has to die of hunger or freeze in winter…” said Michael Landau, president of Caritas Austria, which works to prevent poverty. “But anyone who says that no one in Austria is hungry or freezing has no idea how people live,” he said, referring to Nehammer’s statement.

The chancellor today published a video on the X platform defending his government’s help for low-income families. However, he did not apologize for posting it. “I am of the view that achievement should be rewarded and I support the fact that parents have a duty of care to their children,” he said.

Two days ago, the Austrian chancellor launched a PR campaign with upbeat messages aimed at boosting public confidence in the coalition government, a year before the country’s general election, amid criticism of his party.

“Believe in Austria” was the title of the campaign presented by Neuhammer, leader of the conservative People’s Party (ÖVP). He recognizes the difficulties society is facing due to the pandemic, the Russian war in Ukraine and inflation. “At the same time, we saw that the people of Austria are much stronger than many told us and than we acknowledged to ourselves,” he stressed.

However, he presented no new plan, but cited anti-inflation measures, renewable energy subsidies and curbing irregular immigration among the achievements of the government, a coalition of conservatives and greens.

The campaign takes place one year before the parliamentary elections.

According to opinion polls, the ÖVP is in second place with an approval rating of around 24%, behind the far-right Austrian Freedom Party (FPÖ) at almost 30%, based on recent polls.