President Joe Biden traveled on Thursday to Florida and positioned his Democratic party as the sole protector of Social Security and Medicare in an aim to reclaim the state, which has a large population of retirees who rely on the programs.
Speaking to a group of supporters in a one-time battleground state that has leaned Republican in recent years, Biden outlined a list of achievements, such as allowing the federal government to negotiate Medicare drug prices and impose price caps on insulin. He doubled down on his disputed claims that Republicans are fighting to roll back those efforts while also seeking cuts to popular social safety net programs.
"I know that a lot of Republicans, their dream is to cut Social Security and Medicare. Well, let me say this: If that's your dream, I'm your nightmare," Biden said.
Biden's trip is part of a blitz to at least 20 states by the president and members of his Cabinet following his State of the Union speech to Congress on Tuesday.
Biden has been preparing to launch his re-election bid. Top aides and Democratic strategists debate how seriously he should campaign in Florida, where the last Democratic presidential candidate to win was Barack Obama in 2012.
Both former President Donald Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis are early favorites in the fight for the Republican nomination for the next presidential election in 2024. Both would have a home field advantage over Biden in Florida.
Still, Biden believes his policies could resonate in the state, where one in five residents is over age 65. Polls show Democrats are perceived as more likely to protect the Social Security and Medicare programs, which provide basic income and healthcare to senior citizens.
'CHOPPING BLOCK'
Biden has sought to link Republicans to the idea of cutting funding for both programs as part of negotiations over increasing the United States' $31.4 trillion debt limit.
Kevin McCarthy, the Republican speaker of the House of Representatives, has repeatedly said his party will not try to scale back the nation's two largest benefit programs.
Biden drew boos from Republicans at his State of the Union speech when he said some hardline conservatives want to end Social Security and Medicare. He then said he took their response as a deal to protect the programs.
"So folks, as we all apparently agree, Social Security, Medicare is off the books now, right? All right. We’ve got unanimity," Biden said. "I enjoy conversion."
The White House has not laid out a detailed plan on how to fund the programs when they start to become insolvent, which is expected as soon as 2028 in the case of Medicare’s hospitalization benefits.
At the Tampa event, the White House distributed a pamphlet entitled "A 12-Point Plan to Rescue America: U.S. Senator Rick Scott (R-FL)," which highlighted that senator's proposal to require Medicare and Social Security to be reauthorized every five years.
"The very idea of the Senator from Florida wants to put Social Security, Medicare on the chopping block every five years I find to be somewhat outrageous," Biden said.
Scott, who says Biden is distorting his plan's intentions, has released an attack ad this week calling on Biden to resign and accusing him of being a danger to Medicare and Social Security.
Asked about the ad in a Noticias Telemundo interview that aired Thursday evening, Biden said he had no comment, and when pressed, added: "It's Rick Scott."
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