Biden takes Social Security and Medicare pitch to land of Trump, DeSantis, and Rick Scott
Katherine Doyle
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President Joe Biden will pitch Florida voters on his promise to protect Medicare and Social Security, a message aimed at reviving Democratic prospects in a state seared by recent Republican victories.
Biden is elevating the fight in a swing state popular with American retirees at a moment of tension for the president amid expectations that he will soon announce a reelection bid.
But it’s a familiar message for him.
Biden sparred with Republicans over entitlement programs from the Capitol during his State of the Union address this week before taking the argument to Wisconsin.
Previewing the appeal, Biden on Wednesday pledged, “These benefits belong to you, the American worker; you earned it. I will not allow anyone to cut them. Not today, not tomorrow, not ever.”
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And he has sparred repeatedly with Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL) over the senator’s “Rescue America” plan, which called for sunsetting federal legislation after five years.
Biden swiped at the plan Tuesday, setting off an exchange that prompted some Republicans in the audience to push back against the claim they “want Medicare and Social Security to sunset.”
“I enjoy conversion,” Biden quipped in response.
Scott’s plan didn’t specify Social Security and Medicare, but the programs were created by federal law and would appear to be subject to the same need for reauthorization.
It’s not clear Biden’s message will stick. The president made a similar pitch in Florida in the lead-up to the November elections before Republicans notched record victories, including in a South Florida Democratic stronghold.
Former Hialeah Mayor Raul Martinez (D) said Democrats need to go on the offensive.
“The major problem I see with the administration is a lack of messaging,” he told the Washington Examiner in a recent interview. “I don’t see many Democrats out there supporting what the president has done, and what happens in this country is all about media.”
Still, Martinez said he had little hope that Democrats could regain control in his state.
“If I was on the national scene, I would say write Florida off,” he said. “Keep working on Georgia, work on North Carolina, work on Arizona. And forget Florida.”
The White House appears to view the fight over entitlements as a political win for Biden.
In a memo Wednesday, White House spokesperson Andrew Bates pushed back against Republicans disputing Biden’s claim that they want to do away with Medicare and Social Security.
“Last night Mike Lee made a show of looking incredulous,” Bates wrote. “But Lee himself is on video saying, ‘One thing that you probably haven’t ever heard from a politician: it will be my objective to phase out Social Security. To pull it up by the roots, and get rid of it.’”
The issue has exposed a rift among Republicans over entitlement reform, which former President Donald Trump has seized on as he looks to box out potential rivals in the Republican presidential nominating contest.
Trump, a 2024 candidate since late last year, promoted a video during Biden’s State of the Union address promising to protect Medicare and Social Security, a campaign policy position.
Biden’s visit to Florida comes amid broader tensions for Republicans and amid calls for a new generation of leadership.
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Looming over the state is a power struggle playing out between Trump and the firebrand Florida governor whom he helped vault to power, Ron DeSantis (R).
Yet Republicans are also looking to turn the tables on Biden as he continues to raise the entitlements case.
Scott is running an advertisement in the state timed to Biden’s visit charging that the president cut $280 billion from Medicare, hired thousands of IRS agents, and improperly exploited a tax loophole himself.
Biden “cheated on his taxes … to dodge half a million dollars in taxes that should have gone to Medicare,” Scott says in the spot. “Now that Biden has ripped off Medicare for half a million dollars, he wants to close the loophole and raise your taxes.”