The religious seem to be more inclined to be in favor of corporal punishment (not to be confused with physical abuse, which some might argue it is abusive period to hit a child). I realize we are talking about hot sauce, recently one of my Christian friends talked about using soap in her kids mouth because she talked back, she said it was from the bible, since words come out of our mouths, supposedly best to punish the mouth. The US bible belt is primarily where corporal punishment is legal in public school, because of Christianities seeming support of hitting children as a way to discipline. I have never heard any comment from the LDS church on the topic, so I do not have a specific inclination to think they are in favor of it. I’m guessing AP releases come through the northeast states? Not sure how the associated press works, and those people are more likely to make a judgment associating religion with physical punishment.