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Former President Donald Trump’s politics are mostly focused on himself, as opposed to an ideology, but two notable evolutions this week – on Social Security and TikTok – spotlight something new.
Both Trump and President Joe Biden will look to sell their policy positions now that their general election rematch is upon us. Biden, for instance, has shifted on border policy, a calculated shift to address the border crisis and also triangulate support away from Trump. But Trump’s comments on TikTok and Social Security, both in an unfettered interview on CNBC, suggest not calculation, but confusion about Social Security and ambivalence about TikTok.
Trump spent the primary and much of his political career promising to protect benefits at all costs, a switch for Republicans who have long been warning about deficit spending. Social Security was a top issue during the Republican presidential primary, when Trump attacked his GOP opponents, accusing them of wanting to take social security benefits away from older Americans.
It’s not now clear what exactly Trump’s position is. In an ad-libbed and meandering answer during a telephone interview broadcast on CNBC, Trump seemed to suggest that he was open to cutting Social Security. Here’s the relevant portion of Trump’s exchange with CNBC’s Joe Kernen:
KERNEN: It’s almost a third rail of politics. And we’ve got to what a $33, $34 trillion total debt built up and very little we can do in terms of cutting spending. Discretionary is not going to help. Have you changed your, your outlook on how to handle entitlements Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, Mr. President? Seems like something has to be done, or else we’re going to be stuck at 120%…
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