These headlines epitomize Trump's presidency in free fall
As new campaign claims fly between former President Donald Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), it's time to look at the record. Onetime President Donald Trump is accusing Ron DeSantis of threatening to cut Social Security benefits.
During his presidency, Donald Trump repeatedly pledged not to cut Social Security, a federal program that provides retirement, disability, and survivor benefits to millions of Americans. In his 2020 reelection campaign, he promised to "protect Social Security and Medicare."
However, there were concerns among some policymakers and analysts that his proposed budget cuts and other policy proposals, such as reducing the payroll tax that funds Social Security, could undermine the program's long-term financial stability.
Nevertheless, Trump did not propose or enact any major cuts to Social Security during his time in office.
DeSantis, meanwhile, has a more clouded history on the issue.
Prior to becoming governor, DeSantis served as a Florida congressman. As congressman, DeSantis voted for budget resolutions that could have made 70 the new threshold for seniors to retire. A CNN review of DeSantis' 2012 congressional campaign also turned up support for privatizing Social Security as well.
However, the Florida governor recently told Fox News he had no plans to "mess with Social Security."
“We’re not going to mess with Social Security as Republicans,” DeSantis told Fox News. “I think that that’s pretty clear.”
Trump, however, recently called DeSantis “the man who wants to cut Social Security and Medicare” and a “wheelchair over the cliff kind of guy, just like his hero, failed politician Paul Ryan.”
You can read more about the debate here.
With OpenAI.