

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., has said that cutting Social Security and Medicare is "off the table," though Biden has continued to repeat this claim, most recently on Twitter.

President Biden repeated the claim that Republicans want to cut Social Security and Medicare during a speech Wednesday, Feb. 8, 2023, in Wisconsin. (Fox News)
"I know that for a lot of Republicans on the Hill their dream is to cut Social Security and Medicare. Well, let me say this. If that’s your dream, I'm your nightmare," the tweet read.
Social media users and Republican politicians blasted the tweet for pushing the claim as well as ignoring the president's own past history of attempting to cut Social Security.
"Nightmares are not real events, just visions while you sleep. The growing insolvency of social security is a real thing, dolt," radio host Erick Erickson tweeted.
Arizona Rep. Andy Biggs wrote, "Nothing is true in this cringe post other than Biden self-proclaiming himself as our nation's nightmare."
RealClearInvestigations senior writer Mark Hemingway posted the headline and link of an Intercept article, "FACT CHECK: JOE BIDEN HAS ADVOCATED CUTTING SOCIAL SECURITY FOR 40 YEARS."
Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., remarked, "I don't know who @JoeBiden could be talking about except for himself. He's right, proposals like his are a nightmare..." along with a 1995 video of Biden saying he wanted to freeze spending on Social Security and Medicare, along with other programs.
"I thought this was resolved at the SOTU, but here you are, continuing the lie. Embarrassing," Republican congressional candidate Jack Lombardi tweeted.
The Post Millennial editor-in-chief Libby Emmons replied, "You're just out here lying. Maybe it's bc you only remember things from a long time ago, like the establishment GOP that was opposed to the social safety net. That's not the current position."

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., gives a thumbs down during President Joe Biden's State of the Union address during a joint meeting of Congress in the House Chamber of the U.S. Capitol on February 07, 2023 in Washington, DC. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)
The claim that Republicans want Social Security and Medicare to "sunset" came from a legislative agenda written by Scott last year that proposed "all federal legislation sunsets in 5 years. If a law is worth keeping, Congress can pass it again." Although the proposal was rejected by Republicans and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., Democrats have seized on it to accuse the GOP of wanting to end the programs.
The Washington Post previously gave Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., four "Pinocchios" for claiming that Republicans plan to "end" Social Security and Medicare.

A Social Security card is displayed in Tigard, Ore., Oct. 12, 2021. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane, File)
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre has also defended the attack saying of Republicans, "They had actually voted on that and put it on the chopping block. That's what we've seen them do for years. And they always tried to speak out of both sides of their mouths."