Even though the GOP has been adamant for months that it has no interest in reducing Social Security and Medicare, political consultants anticipate that President Biden will continue to assert that Republicans want to eliminate those popular programs into the 2024 election season.

When Biden accused Republicans of wanting to cut Social Security and Medicare benefits in Tuesday’s State of the Union speech, they yelled back at him. Political analysts predicted that Biden would likely continue making that assertion during the following two years, even after that rebuff.

Biden’s divisive message, according to Mark Penn, a Democratic consultant who previously worked for Bill and Hillary Clinton, is an effort to win back elderly voters who rely on Medicare and Social Security.

Penn told Fox News Digital, “Older voters have become more conservative and more Republican.” “Biden wants to use Medicare strategies to scare them away. It was successful against Gingrich in the past, but it had to be abandoned when Trump declared he would not slash those programs. Regardless of what the [GOP] leadership says, they are attempting to bring it back.”

Back in the day, Biden introduced a bill that would terminate all federal programs, including social security.

In a speech on Thursday in Florida, President Biden is anticipated to reiterate his claim that Republicans seek to reduce Social Security and Medicaid. According to political consultants, this message is dramatized and a successful strategy to win over senior adults before the 2024 election.
In a speech on Thursday in Florida, President Biden is anticipated to reiterate his claim that Republicans seek to reduce Social Security and Medicaid. According to political consultants, this message is dramatized and a successful strategy to win over senior adults before the 2024 election. (Image by Nathan Howard/Bloomberg via Getty) )

The ongoing Medicare and Social Security discussion, according to ethics attorney Richard Painter, who served in the George W. Bush administration, is more about the political drama of 2024 than it is about the potential for legislative advancements this year.

Painter told Fox News Digital, “This is all a lot of back-and-forth charges between a president and a Congress that won’t pass any big measures if they can’t attempt to figure out what, if anything, they agree on. “Additionally, since nothing will pass the Senate, Biden probably won’t need to veto anything. 2024 is essentially the only thing this is about.”

The need to raise the debt ceiling later this year has generated discussion concerning Social Security and Medicare. Despite consistently stating that the two social welfare programs would not be affected, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, a Republican from California, has requested cuts in exchange for an increase in the debt ceiling.

Nevertheless, Biden keeps bringing up Republican attempts to dismantle the programs in the past and regularly alerts Americans that the GOP wants to reduce funding for them.

In response to jeers from Republicans, Biden stated during the State of the Union on Tuesday night, “Some Republicans… want Medicare and Social Security sunset.” I’m not asserting that it’s the majority.

Following Biden’s remarks, the White House issued a statement outlining earlier Republican reform initiatives for the programs. Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, made a declaration to such effect, stating that “it will be my mission to phase out Social Security.”

No such cuts to Social Security and Medicare would be offered from his party, according to House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, a Republican from California.
No such cuts to Social Security and Medicare would be offered from his party, according to House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, a Republican from California. (Screenshot from C-SPAN)

On Wednesday, in response, Lee issued a statement claiming that, while he supports improving the programs, he has “never proposed abolishing Social Security, Medicare, or Medicaid benefits” and that, to his knowledge, “no Republican” has brought up such cuts as a condition of a debt ceiling agreement.

The White House also discussed previous Republican attempts to raise the retirement age for Medicare and Social Security, as well as Sen. Rick Scott’s (R-Fla.) proposal to require congressional reauthorization of all federal programs every five years starting in 2022, which Democrats see as a way to begin reducing benefits.

Republicans, however, drew attention to the fact that in 1975, when Biden was a senator, he put out a proposal that was quite similar to Scott’s, mandating a four-year sunset for all federal programs.

Giancarlo Sopo, founder of Visto Media and formerly in charge of the former President Trump’s Hispanic advertising, argued that Biden’s assertions that Republicans seek to abolish the programs are false.

Sopo told Fox News Digital, “It’s hardly surprising the same guy who accused Mitt Romney of wanting to put Black people “back in chains” is using this kind of demagoguery. Unfortunately, these false attacks can be successful, as the 2022 midterm elections demonstrated.

According to YouGovAmerica, Democrats and Republicans both have net approval ratings of above 70% for Medicare and Social Security. The initiatives are a clear political advantage for Democrats that Biden is wise to take advantage of, according to campaign strategist and former spokesperson for Biden’s 2020 campaign Kevin Walling.

Sen. Mike Lee of Utah said in a statement that “it will be my mission to phase out Social Security,” which was cited by the White House on Thursday.
Sen. Mike Lee of Utah said in a statement that “it will be my mission to phase out Social Security,” which was cited by the White House on Thursday. Submitted by Bill Clark to CQ-Roll Call, Inc. via Getty Images

Attacks on Republicans who want to privatize or reform entitlements or GOP governors who refuse to expand Medicare in their states have in the past served as powerful campaign messages, and Walling believes that this issue is particularly important for seniors in the Sunshine State, where the president is currently residing. “What the president did during the State of the Union was a master stroke in that he forced the Republican House majority into promising not to slash entitlement spending in real time, but given their track record, we must hold Republicans to that commitment.”

The president has proposed to eliminate Medicare Advantage, a privatized alternative to the program that enrolls 30 million seniors, so Republican senators have responded to Biden’s remarks in recent days. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev., and 57 other senators from both parties issued a letter to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services last month reiterating their support for the program. In 2014, the previous president Barack Obama reversed his proposed changes to Medicare Advantage thanks to similar bipartisan support.

Republican candidates’ consultant Brendan Steinhauser argued that Republicans have every right to be incensed by Biden’s remarks.

Steinhauser told Fox News Digital that even if a talking point is false, repeating it can still be beneficial because it frightens voters.