MSNBC panelist: You're 'elite' if you don't depend on government

MSNBC panelist and political editor for The Root Dr. Jason Johnson was on MSNBC Live with Stephanie Ruhle when he made the statement that normalcy is being on the government dole, and never having to depend of the government makes you "elite."

"You want to talk a elitism right?" says Johnson. "You're an elite if you don't have to depend on the government at some point in your life."

"There are sick people out there," continued Johnson. "There are seniors out there who need federally funded cars to take them to and from place, there are people who have student loans. There is cancer research from the NSF that helps people from the entire country."

"So if you can say you don't care about the government that must be great, fine for you, if you are that rich, maybe the people in the White House feels that way," says Johnson. "But regular people -- Republicans and Democrats realize how stupid this is. I can't wait for them to make this mistake so they get wiped out in 2018 and we can have some competent Democrats and Republicans running this country."

According to a 2015 U.S. Census Bureau report of 2012, just over 21 percent of Americans receive assistance from major government programs in some form or another. According to Johnson, those in the 79 percentile are "elite."

Additionally in 2015, 54.7 percent of Americans paid federal taxes, while 45.3 percent did not according to the Tax Policy Center. This means that just a little over half of the country is picking up the tab for those benefiting from government programs.