In a noteworthy statement on Wednesday, former Vice President Mike Pence took aim at both former President Donald Trump and President Joe Biden, accusing them of neglecting the issue of Social Security and Medicare spending.
Pence warned that their respective policies could potentially result in “insolvency” for these vital programs. His remarks highlight growing concerns about the long-term sustainability of Social Security and Medicare under the current administration’s and previous administration’s approaches.
“The hard truth is, Social Security and Medicare are tracking for bankruptcy in the next five or 10 years, and under the law, there will be mandatory cuts in Social Security and Medicare,” Pence told CNN host Dana Bash during a CNN town hall event. “It is also disappointing to me that Donald Trump’s position on entitlement reform is identical to Joe Biden’s; their policy is insolvency,” Pence said.
“That’s why it’s incomprehensible to me that Joe Biden refuses to even have a conversation with members of either political party about some commonsense reforms that would put Social Security and Medicare back on a solid foundation and end this avalanche of debt that we’re bequeathing to our children and grandchildren,” Pence continued.
WATCH:
Trump criticized Republicans over plans to reform Social Security and Medicare during a 90-minute address to the Conservative Political Action Conference in March, the Washington Examiner reported. A super PAC supporting Trump aired ads criticizing Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida for supporting budgets that included reforms to Social Security and Medicare.
The Social Security trust fund is expected to be exhausted in 2033, according to the Congressional Budget Office. Former Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley also criticized Trump for not wanting to address Social Security, accusing him of “kicking the can down the road.”
“I think we’ve got a moral obligation to ensure the long-term solvency of social security and Medicare, and that means saying to Americans, over the age of 40, we’re going to keep the system we have, Americans under the age of 40, we have to work on the reforms that will lessen the burden of debt and change these New Deal programs into a better deal for younger Americans,” Pence said.
