Addressing New York voters at a campaign event for Democratic House candidate Josh Riley, former President Bill Clinton claimed House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA.) wants to cut Social Security and Medicare.
At the event held on Wednesday (November 2), Clinton asserted Riley’s Republican contender Marc Molinaro wants to help McCarthy become House Speaker, claiming that if that happened McCarthy could pursue cutting Social Security and Medicare.
Clinton, purportedly quoting McCarthy, said, “He said if you vote for us, you didn’t cause this inflation, but you’re going to pay for it because here’s what we’re going to do: We’re going to cut Social Security, we’re going to cut Medicare.”
Clinton is repeating similar rhetoric former President Barack Obama and President Joe Biden have used in recent weeks when hitting the campaign trail.
Yet their statements hinge on something Republicans say is simply not true.
According to reporting by Fox News, when questioned about Clinton’s remarks on Medicare and Social Security, a spokesperson for McCarthy denied the House Minority Leader had any such intentions should he become House Speaker. Instead, the spokesperson pointed to McCarthy’s Commitment for America Plan and its plans to “save and strengthen Social Security and Medicare.”
McCarthy isn’t the only Republican being accused by Democrats of wanting to cut Social Security and Medicare.
On Saturday (October 29), at an event in Milwaukee, former President Barack Obama yelled at a crowd that Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) should not hold his position in the Senate because he wants to cut Medicare.
On Monday (October 31), Johnson denied such assertions, stating, “All they do is they trot out the same old lies, you know, the Republicans want to end Social Security, we want to put it on the chopping block. Nothing could be further from the truth.”
During an interview with Fox News Sunday, Republican National Committee chair Ronna McDaniel described Democrats talking points as “scare tactics.”
