Politico is hyping Joe Biden's campaign to portray Republicans as wanting to make cuts to Social Security and Medicare. But they have very conveniently overlooked Biden's very forceful urging of a spending freeze (or "cuts") to those programs in the past. Ironically, Politico covered the controversy in 2020 which involved the accusations by presidential candidate Bernie Sanders that Biden supported Social Security cuts.
First let us look at Politico Playbook's very convenient memory loss about Biden and Social Security cuts in their Monday story about Biden slamming Republicans for wanting to make those cuts even though the GOP has taken it off the table:
Be on the lookout this week for Biden and aides to keep hammering Republicans over their past remarks about cutting or modifying Medicare and Social Security. Biden is heading to Maryland on Wednesday for an economic speech where he’s sure to replay the hits from last week.
While Biden focuses on preserving the programs most important to American seniors, one administration ally told us last night, “Republicans are showing they want to increase the deficit with welfare for the rich, proving the President’s warnings about earned benefits right, and keep fixating on bizarre conspiracy theories.”
Republicans would say the "bizarre conspiracy theory" was the president saying Republicans want to "sunset" (hint: end) Social Security in his State of the Union speech.
As for the current absence of Biden's previous support for freezing Social Security spending in Politico? Probably because Biden was so strenuous in support of those cuts that it underlines his hypocrisy in condemning the GOP in this matter as the following Bernie Sanders campaign video illustrates.
Let’s be honest, Joe. One of us fought for decades to cut Social Security, and one of us didn’t. But don’t take it from me. Take it from you. pic.twitter.com/qh7qb1Hmcl
— Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) January 22, 2020
One big reason that it is so silly for Politico to now memory-hole Biden's past statements on Social Security is that they covered the controversy at the time in which Biden accused the Sanders campaign of doctoring the video on January 18, 2020 in "Biden charges Sanders camp ‘doctored video’ to attack him."
Joe Biden accused Bernie Sanders’ campaign Saturday of issuing a “doctored video” to attack him over Social Security, a false claim that ratcheted up the tension between the two campaigns in the run-up to the Iowa caucuses.
Okay then, so back in early 2020, Politico had no problem labeling Biden's charge as a "false claim" (i.e. lying) yet now gives the same Biden a pass by not mentioning the freeze proposed by Biden while accusing Republicans of wanting to make Social Security cuts.
