Wilfred Lee/AP
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis speaks at Palm Beach Atlantic University in West Palm Beach on February 15, 2023.
CNN
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Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Thursday distanced himself from previous support for privatizing Social Security and raising the retirement age, as potential future political opponents capitalize on his previous ideas for a popular retirement system. I put it.
“As Republicans, we’re not going to interfere with Social Security,” DeSantis told Fox News. “I think that’s pretty clear.”
As a member of Congress, Mr. DeSantis voted in favor of a non-binding budget resolution that would set age 70 as the new threshold for seniors to receive federal benefits. A recent CNN KFile review of DeSantis’ comments during his 2012 congressional campaign found that he also supported privatizing Social Security.
Mr. DeSantis’ attempt to publicly roll back the foundational positions of fiscal conservatism that characterized his early political career comes as former President Donald Trump announced his support for Medicare and Social Security in the 2024 Republican presidential primary. This was done in response to the early defeat in the election. President Trump has targeted DeSantis, who is traveling the country promoting his new book and raising his profile ahead of his highly anticipated presidential campaign.
President Trump took to his social media platforms this week to describe DeSantis as “a guy who wants to cut Social Security and Medicare” and “like his hero, the failed politician Paul Ryan, in a wheelchair over a cliff.” “A man,” he criticized. The criticism comes more than a decade ago in an effort to undermine Ryan, a Wisconsin Republican who proposed partial privatization of Medicare and Social Security in his budget and was nominated as Mitt Romney’s running mate in 2012. revived the attack line used by In the states, the actor believed to have played Ryan pushed an elderly woman over the edge of a cliff with his car.
Mr. DeSantis has largely avoided engaging with Mr. Trump and has so far declined to answer questions about his past positions. His new book, “The Courage to Be Free,” covers his early political career and nearly three terms in Congress, instead defining his first term as governor and leading the Republican Party. It focuses primarily on the cultural struggles that fueled the breakthrough.
But on Thursday, in the latest of several appearances to promote his book, DeSantis was asked by Fox News host Dana Perino about his proposal to raise the retirement age for federal benefits to 70. Before his appearance, he pivoted to criticizing President Joe Biden’s past votes on Social Security. He sought to address concerns about the long-term financial outlook of federal entitlement programs.
“People used to say that the budget problems were because of Social Security and Medicare. But the reality is, they’re printing trillions of dollars, and that’s actually driving up inflation.” said.
The statement appears to contradict what Mr. DeSantis said in 2012, when he first ran for Congress as a Tea Party conservative and disciple of Mr. Ryan and his budget hawks. At the time, DeSantis said it was “unsustainable” to allow seniors to retire before their late 60s, CNN KFile reported. He also expressed his support for Ryan’s plan to privatize Social Security.
“What I think we need to do, especially for people of my generation, is to start rebuilding the programs in a fiscally sustainable way, both in Social Security and Medicare,” he said. said at the time.
Mr. DeSantis’s flip-flopped stance drew swift condemnation Thursday from the Democratic National Committee, which said in a press release that the Republican governor had “completely undermined his long-established record of supporting cuts to Social Security and Medicare.” “They are trying to rewrite it into “.”party on social media Posted side-by-side video It features DeSantis’ past comments and Thursday remarks.
As President Trump presses Republicans to support Medicare and Social Security, other 2024 presidential candidates have also expressed support for changing the programs. Former Vice President Mike Pence told CNBC last month that Social Security and Medicare need to be “on the table” in addressing the U.S. national debt. Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley declared early in her presidential campaign that “we need to address the rights” of future beneficiaries.
This is the second time that Mr. DeSantis’ pivot appears to have changed positions to align more closely with Mr. Trump. The governor recently weighed in on American intervention in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, after repeatedly expressing support for sending “defensive and offensive” weapons to Ukraine to deter Russian aggression in the past. expressed opposition.
While Mr. Trump has tried in recent weeks to engage his major opponents in unpleasant policy battles, Mr. DeSantis has tried to steer the narrative around his possible candidacy toward a legislative victory as governor. There is. The story is detailed in his political memoir, which he published the day after he signed a bill giving him effective control of Florida’s Disney Special Tax District.
Mr. DeSantis appeared on Fox News and hinted that an announcement could be made after the legislative session begins next week, with the governor expected to further advance his ideological agenda.
“Assuming we’re successful, when we get to the other side of that, we’re going to look at what that means for the country,” DeSantis said.
This story has been updated with additional information.