The White House was embarrassed into deleting a Twitter post in which it commended President Joe Biden for the 8.7% Social Security cost of living adjustment taking place next year.
The Biden administration only deleted the post after Congressmen and Twitter users pointed out that the Social Security COLA was due 40-year-high inflation, the New York Post reports.
“Seniors are getting the biggest increase in their Social Security checks in 10 years through President Biden’s leadership,” the White House tweeted on Tuesday afternoon.
Twitter added a note to the claim saying, “Readers added context they thought people might want to know. Seniors will receive a large Social Security benefit increase due to the annual cost of living adjustment, which is based on the inflation rate.”
Rep Thomas Massie, R-Kentucky, was among the leading politicians who pointed out the irony of the White House’s self-aggrandizement, tweeting, “Biden social media geniuses are giving Biden credit for the biggest Social Security COLA in 10 years, but neglect to mention that COLA is an automatic formula based on government inflation metric.”
U.S. Representative Vicky Hartzler, R-Missouri, added, “ Biden’s leadership is solely responsible for record inflation, according to the White House.”
U.S. Representative Doug Lamborn, R-Colorado, weighed in with the comment, “Even with one-party Democratic rule in DC, the Biden Administration continues to blame others for their failed policies. There is nobody to blame but themselves.”
The Social Security Administration's 8.7% increase in the 2023 COLA is tied to the Consumer Price Index, which rose 8.2% in September.