White House deletes Social Security boast after Twitter fact check

The White House took down a tweet about larger Social Security checks after Twitter placed a fact-check disclaimer tying the increase to inflation, according to reports.

On Monday, the White House posted to its official Twitter about a historic cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) to Social Security benefits, attributing it to President Joe Biden’s policies.

“Seniors are getting the biggest increase in their Social Security checks in 10 years through President Biden’s leadership,” read the tweet.

Some quickly noted that COLA is calculated based on the Consumer Price Index, the government’s measure of inflation, meaning the White House tacitly admitted Biden is behind record-high prices.

Last month, White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain said that Social Security payments were set to rise by 8.7%.

Twitter itself flagged the tweet on Tuesday morning with “added context they thought people might want to know” saying the same.

“Seniors will receive a large Social Security benefit increase due to the annual cost of living adjustment, which is based on the inflation rate,” read the fact-check.

“President Nixon in 1972 signed into law automatic benefit adjustments tied to the Consumer Price Index,” it added with a link to the legislation.

Shortly afterward, the White House deleted the original tweet.

“The Biden White House has officially deleted the tweet where they take credit for 8% annualized inflation. But screenshots are forever,” wrote Noah Rothman, associate editor at Commentary.

“Claiming credit for an increase in Social Security driven by inflation is a bold strategy,” said another user in a retweet.