Ron DeSantis Has Moved on Social Security

Ron DeSantis’ position on Social Security appears to have changed over time, with the Florida governor and Republican primary candidate making a number of differing statements about the federal safety net in recent years.

Conservative Republicans have previously spoken out about the cost of the program, also known as the Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance (OASDI) program, which provides a safety net for nearly 70 million Americans, encompassing pensions, disability benefits and benefits for survivors of a deceased claimant.

Efforts to reform it have proved controversial and in an AP-NORC poll conducted in March, and cited by CNN, 79 percent of Americans opposed reducing the size of benefits.

DeSantis has recently made statements appearing to support the policy. During a Wednesday CNN debate with GOP rival, former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, he criticized Haley for speaking about raising the retirement age in the U.S. Haley has proposed that people currently in their 20s should work longer to reflect rising life expectancy. Currently, Americans can begin to access their benefits at age 62.

“I don’t see how you can raise the retirement age when our life expectancy is collapsing in this country,” he said.

He added: “My grandmother lived till 91 and Social Security was her sole source of income, and that’s true for a lot of seniors throughout this country.

“So I say to seniors in America: promise made, promise kept. I understand what you’re going through with the rising prices, and you need that Social Security check. So we’ll make sure to get that done.”

However, at a town hall in Iowa on Sunday, he suggested some claimants might be defrauding the program with “fake” claims.

“In terms of disability, you know, you can be disabled partially and maybe its good if you want to maybe work and earn some income, but I think it’s a fine line of some people who would kind of fake being disabled, then work,” DeSantis said.

DeSantis has also claimed he is open to making cuts to Social Security for younger Americans.

“When people say that we’re going to somehow cut seniors, that is totally not true,” he told Fox News last July. “Talking about making changes for people in their 30s or 40s so that the program’s viable, that’s a much different thing.”

Over a decade ago, it seems DeSantis’ stance was more hard line. When he was a candidate for the House in 2012, he backed a plan by then-Rep. Paul Ryan to privatize Social Security, calling it “unsustainable” in an interview with the Florida publication St. Augustine Record.

“I think people who are low income will probably be given coverage that is similar to what they have now,” he added. “I think people like me, who’ve been more successful, it’s not even that I will have to pay more. I will have premium support that’s going to guarantee me a certain amount of coverage.”

“If you want something over and above that, if you want a Cadillac plan or something, then I do think it should be driven by the consumer rather than imposed on the taxpayers,” he added. “And I just think that that makes sense.”

At a League of Women Voters debate in August 2012, DeSantis also expressed support for Ryan’s plan and said Social Security should be altered for younger generations.

“I support what Ryan is trying to do in terms of reforming entitlements. It’s not a voucher, it’s premium support,” he was quoted as saying. “You get a plan and can supplement it with your own income.”

While in Congress, DeSantis voted for nonbinding budget resolutions that would have increased the threshold for seniors to collect their federal benefits to the age of 70.

In a CNN interview on January 4, 2013, he said Congress should restructure Social Security and Medicare to make them financially sustainable.

“I think we need to restructure some of these entitlements. Get it in a way that they’re sustainable over the long term.”

Newsweek contacted a representative for DeSantis by email to comment on this story.

DeSantis is unlikely to become the Republican nominee for the presidential election, according to polls. That spot is likely reserved for former President Donald Trump, who has struck a more supportive tone when it comes to Social Security. In an attack ad released this week, he called Haley’s policy to increase the retirement age a “threat from within.”

Trump’s campaign website also states: “President Trump will always protect Medicare, Social Security, and patients with pre-existing conditions.”

Meanwhile, Democrat candidate and incumbent President Joe Biden has also expressed reluctance about making cuts to the program.