President Joe Biden’s Twitter account just got fact checked by Twitter itself after accusing Republicans of threatening to cut Social Security and Medicare.
“House Republicans are threatening to cut Social Security and Medicare, putting the dignity of millions of Americans who rely on these programs at risk,” Biden tweeted. “I won’t stand for that. We ought to strengthen these programs – not gut them.”
Twitter then followed up with a context note, clarifying that newly-elected Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy “said ahead of a meeting with President Biden this week that cuts to Medicare and Social Security are off the table in talks around raising the debt limit.”
McCarthy noted in January that his “Commitment to America” plan details the need to strengthen Medicare and Social Security, not cut them, as Biden and other Democrats have claimed. In response to McCarthy’s remarks, the White House pointed to past Republican attempts to slash the programs as they undergo reform.
“For years, congressional Republicans have advocated for slashing earned benefits using Washington code words like ‘strengthen,’ when their policies would privatize Medicare and Social Security, raise the retirement age, or cut benefits,” White House spokesman Andrew Bates told The Hill in January. “House Republicans refuse to raise revenue from the wealthy, but insist they will ‘strengthen’ earned benefits programs.”
This isn’t the first time the Biden administration’s social media accounts have been fact checked. Back in November, the White House tweeted about an increase in Social Security payments for seniors and claimed that it would be the first increase in 10 years.
Twitter added a fact-check note, stating that the automatic increase was actually thanks to a law passed by President Richard Nixon in 1972, which tied Social Security payments to the Consumer Price Index.
The tweet was later deleted.
Shortly after, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said that “it was not complete,” instead of being honest and admitting they were wrong.
President Joe Biden has been touting the increase since it was announced in October that Social Security benefits will rise by 8.7 percent in 2023, a historic boost but a gain that will be eaten up in part by soaring inflation.
