Fact and fiction: Trump super PAC attacks on DeSantis on Social Security and Medicare

A super PAC that supports Donald Trump’s presidential candidacy recently released an advertisement that attacked Governor Ron DeSantis’ record on entitlements, particularly Social Security and Medicare.

The Trump-aligned super PAC claimed that DeSantis supports cutting Social Security and Medicare, based on his voting record while serving in Congress.

President Joe Biden has positioned himself as a defender of these popular old-age entitlement programs and congressional Republicans have pushed back against his criticisms, particularly during the State of the Union address.

In the 2016 campaign, Trump opposed major changes to these retirement programs when many Republicans sought reforms championed by Paul Ryan, who was the speaker of the House of Representatives at that time. However, Trump’s supporters are now looking to punish DeSantis for being in the GOP mainstream during that time.

The advertisement implies that DeSantis voted to cut Social Security and Medicare three times, however, the facts show that the votes cited were DeSantis’s “ayes” for the Republican Study Committee’s budget proposals for fiscal years 2014, 2015, and 2016. These proposals aimed to ensure that Social Security was put on a path to solvency, which referred to predictions that the program would be insolvent by 2033. There were three main aspects to the budget proposals:

Firstly, they suggested a change to the measure of inflation used to calculate Social Security benefits. They proposed abandoning the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers in favor of the Chained Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers, also known as “chained CPI.”

Secondly, the RSC budgets proposed gradually raising the full-retirement age over time to 70 years, which wouldn’t have affected those already retired or those near retirement. They justified this change based on advancements in longevity.

Thirdly, the fiscal 2016 budget proposed cutting benefits for those with higher earnings, which the group argued would preserve Social Security as a safety-net benefit.

Concerning Medicare, the claims that DeSantis voted to cut it come from the previously cited budget proposals for fiscal years 2014 and 2015. These proposals suggested transitioning Medicare to a premium-support system, which would have enabled individuals to select a health insurance policy from a marketplace while Medicare covered the premiums. Critics argued that this change would end Medicare as it is known, although proponents maintained that it would allow beneficiaries to receive the same benefits but at a lower cost to the government. It is worth noting that these benefits would not have changed Medicare for those retired or near retirement, but would apply to future retirees, which means for those aged 55 and younger at the time.

The budget proposals failed as amendments to larger budget resolutions in the House of Representatives during the three years stated.

Although DeSantis has not formally announced his bid for presidency, he is expected to do so soon and is seen as Trump’s chief rival in the Republican primary.