4 misleading claims Kamala Harris made about Trump in DNC speech
4. Social Security and Medicare
In her remarks, Harris vowed, “We are not going back to when Donald Trump tried to cut Social Security and Medicare.” A Washington Post fact check calls into question the accuracy of her assertion that the former president worked to cut the programs as it analyzed the fiscal policy proposals of the previous administration.
“On Medicare, virtually all anticipated savings sought by Trump would have been wrung from health providers, not Medicare beneficiaries, as a way of holding down costs and improving the solvency of the old-age health program,” The Post reported. “Trump, in fact, borrowed many proposals from Barack Obama, who had failed to get them through Congress.”
WaPo included a quote from Marc Goldwein of the nonpartisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, who characterized Harris’ argument as “quite ridiculous.” He noted that the Inflation Reduction Act, signed into law by President Joe Biden, implemented inflation caps to reduce the cost of Medicare. “By the same logic, you could say Joe Biden cut Medicare.”
The newspaper also highlighted how “Trump kept his promise not to touch retirement benefits,” while acknowledging that he “did seek, without success, to reduce spending for Social Security Disability Insurance as well as Supplemental Security Income, which is administered by the Social Security Administration.” It concluded by explaining that “Trump has insisted he will not cut benefits for Medicare or Social Security if he is elected again.”
Ryan Foley is a reporter for The Christian Post. He can be reached at: ryan.foley@christianpost.com
