President Joe Biden was met with a chorus of boos and outbursts from Republican lawmakers after he declared that Republicans "want Medicare and Social Security to sunset."
The president went off script as Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene shouted that he was a "liar."
"Instead of making the wealthy pay their fair share, some Republicans want Medicare and Social Security to sunset. I'm not saying it's the majority," Biden said, provoking a loud response from lawmakers and others in attendance. "That means if Congress doesn’t vote to keep them, those programs will go away." BIDEN: “Instead of making the wealthy pay their fair share, some Republicans want Medicare and Social Security to sunset. I'm not saying it's the majority.”
MTG: “Liar!”
— ALX 🇺🇸 (@alx) February 8, 2023
Biden continued, "other Republicans say if we don’t cut Social Security and Medicare, they’ll let America default on its debt for the first time in our history."
Biden appeared to be flustered by the response and went off script. As members of the GOP reacted, the president said "I'm glad to see it, I enjoy conversion."
"Social Security and its bookend, Medicare, are off the books now, right?," Biden said. "We have unanimity!"
Speaker Kevin McCarthy said during an appearance on CBS’s “Face the Nation” on Sunday that cuts to the programs are off the table regarding the discussions about raising the debt limit.
On the same day that McCarthy made the remarks, a tweet from the president's official account was flagged after he claimed that "House Republicans are threatening to cut Social Security and Medicare, putting the dignity of millions of Americans who rely on these programs at risk. I won’t stand for that. We ought to strengthen these programs – not gut them."
A community note was added to the bottom of the tweet. House Republicans are threatening to cut Social Security and Medicare, putting the dignity of millions of Americans who rely on these programs at risk.
I won’t stand for that. We ought to strengthen these programs – not gut them.
— President Biden (@POTUS) February 5, 2023
The note stated, "Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) said ahead of a meeting with President Biden this week that cuts to Medicare and Social Security are off the table in talks around raising the debt limit"
