The White House claimed Wednesday that officials had deleted a controversial tweet because they were “not complete”.
A reporter questioned Karine Jean-Pierre, White House press secretary. Jean-Pierre quickly pointed out that President Joe Biden had made the exact same claim as Jean-Pierre.
What’s the background?
The White House claimed Tuesday that Biden was responsible for the forthcoming increase in Social Security payments.
The tweet stated that Seniors have seen the largest increase in Social Security checks in 10 Years because of President Biden’s leadership.
After Twitter users added fact-checks, the White House removed the post. This was because Social Security payouts have been statutorily mandated to increase in line with inflation.
Biden social media geniuses are giving Biden credit for the biggest Social Security COLA in 10 years, but neglect to mention that SS COLA is an automatic formula based on government inflation metric (CPI). 🤦♂️ pic.twitter.com/1trGTRI9iV
— Thomas Massie (@RepThomasMassie) November 2, 2022
What did KJP say about this?
A reporter asked at the White House press conference whether the tweet was removed “because of an addition of a note or because it raised concerns about the authenticity of the message in that tweet.”
Jean-Pierre replied, “Look, the Tweet was incomplete.” Jean-Pierre replied, “Normally when we tweet, we post it with context. But this tweet did not have that context.”
Jean-Pierre says that the context is that Medicare premiums are expected to decrease in the near future, and that “MAGA Republicans”, who want to reduce social safety net spending, which is in fact insolvent, is what Jean-Pierre believes.
It did not contain that context. It was an incomplete tweet,” stated the press secretary. “And so, that’s why the digital team took that action.”
The reporter noticed that Biden claimed credit Tuesday for the increase in Social Security payments, saying it was happening “on my watch” one time and “on our watches” the next.
Biden spoke in Florida Tuesday and stated, “And on mine, for the first time in ten years, seniors get an increase in Social Security checks.”
Biden then stated at a rally that Tuesday’s campaign rally: “On our watch,” seniors are receiving the largest increase in Social Security checks in 10 years.
“Do you think that the Medicare part is not entitled to credit for inflation and cost-of-living increases?” Jean-Pierre was questioned by the reporter.
“We believe that — we want our argument to be fully stated. She stumbled and said that it was crucial to do so as we released information or a tweet. “And that was an incomplete Tweet. We believe it is important.
However, she did not answer why the tweet was “incomplete” after Biden had made the same claim one day before.