The official White House Twitter account posted a clip of Wisconsin Republican Senator Ron Johnson calling Social Security a "legal Ponzi scheme" after a Fox News headline accused President Joe Biden of making a "false claim" about "some Republicans" wanting to gut Social Security during his State of the Union address.
In response, the White House issued the following tweet:
“Republican Senator Ron Johnson, in radio interviews today, said that Social Security was a ‘legal Ponzi scheme’ and that Social Security should have been privatized.”
The tweet included an audio clip of Johnson's recent appearance on The Jay Weber Show in which he said:
“That’s why what I talked about, for the first time around in 2010, I just laid out the reality of Social Security. It’s a legal Ponzi scheme. It is. I mean, it’s a pay-as-you-go system.”
You can see the White House's tweet below.
The White House's tweet also came after Johnson suggested the system be privatized because "had we done it back then, you know, Social Security might be in a more stable position for younger workers.”
Many applauded the White House's response and criticized Johnson's remarks.
President Biden's State of the Union address received bipartisan praise but has nonetheless raised the ire of Republican leaders who've bristled over Biden's criticism of Republicans looking to gut Social Security and Medicare, which millions of older and low-income Americans rely on.
Utah Republican Senator Mike Lee's own words about Social Security and Medicare were used against him after Biden directly quoted a 2010 video in which Lee said it will "be [his] objective to phase out Social Security.”
Lee was forced to defend his statements, which he said at the time were meant to reflect how Congress should not have “sweeping power over people’s livelihoods."
He also accused Biden of having "conveniently left out that critical detail—that even when I voiced that position, I insisted that we honor the reliance interests of those who have paid into the system."
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