White House Press Sec Karine Jean-Pierre tried to save through this week’s presser without explaining Biden’s recently deleted tweet about social security. The post on Twitter was a false victory lap from the administration about senior citizens receiving an increase in Social Security checks. Biden claimed that the increase was thanks to his hard work. Twitter implemented a fact check citing the increase in checks to the “annual cost of living adjustment”—And just like that, the post was gone.
Why? Because the law that raises social security is based on a law set in place by a former president who isn’t Biden.
“The White House removed a tweet that talked about the increase in social security benefits in 2023 ‘through President Biden’s leadership.’ There was a contextual note, I’m not sure of the proper terminology for the platform, that was added to that. Was it removed because of an issue with the note or was it removed because of the concern on the … messaging?” CNN Senior White House Correspondent Phil Mattingly questioned.
“Look, the tweet was not complete. Usually when we put out a tweet, we post it with context and it did not have that context,” the press secretary said. “So, in the past, we’ve pointed out that for the first time in over a decade, seniors, Medicare premiums will decrease even as their social security checks increase. That’s a little bit of context was not included. This means that seniors will have a chance to get ahead of inflation due to the rare combination of rising benefits and falling premiums.”
“And let’s not forget, as you’ve been hearing me say for the past few minutes, about MAGA Republicans in Congress and their continued threat to threaten Social Security and Medicare proposing to put them on the chopping blocks every five years, threatening benefits and to change eligibility,” she continued. “So those are the types of context that would normally be with a tweet like that, it did not have that context. It was an incomplete tweet as I just mentioned, and so that’s why you saw the social team take that action.”
The Social Security Administration announced an 8.7% increase in cost-of-living adjustment for Social Security and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits for 2023. The adjustment will lead to an average $140 increase in Social Security benefits starting in January.
Amendments to the Social Security Act, passed by former President Richard Nixon, determine the cost-of-living adjustment by aligning it with the increase in the Consumer Price Index (CPI), according to the Social Security Administration.
CNN fact-checker Daniel Dale tweeted corrected the administration writing that the “size of Social Security checks” aligns with the inflation rate. Inflation reached a 40-year high this year, soaring 0.4% in September from August. A law put into place by Nixon—Not Biden.
“It’s true that this year’s increase is the biggest in years,” Dale said. “Very much not sure “there was big inflation and therefore also, as required by decades-old law, a big cost-of-living adjustment to Social Security” is what people think of as an example of presidential leadership.”
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So much for his victory lap, eh? It’s so rare to see the fact-checkers actually doing their job, but I have to admit that’s a beautiful thing when they do.