‘Depleted’ Biden Ad Gets Fact-Checked For False Attacks on Trump’s Social Security ‘Plan’

A recent political ad, titled “Depleted”, by the Joe Biden presidential campaign claims that he, and not President Donald Trump, would protect Social Security for American workers.

Factcheck.org says that the ad falsely claims that a government analysis of President Donald Trump’s “planned cuts to Social Security” shows that “if Trump gets his way, Social Security benefits will run out in just three years from now.”

A TV station in Lancaster, Pennslyvania, a key swing state in the election, called the claim “false” as well and a quote that was presented in the ad, “misleading.”

The ad says, “The chief actuary of the Social Security Administration just released an analysis of Trump’s planned cuts to Social Security. Under Trump’s plan, Social Security would become permanently depleted by the middle of calendar year 2023.”

From WGAL 8:

At the request of Democratic senators, the chief actuary of the Social Security Administration did analyze what would happen to Social Security if the payroll tax was eliminated and not replaced.

It was a hypothetical question and went beyond what the president has proposed, so far.

The chief actuary determined that under that scenario,”reserves would become permanently depleted by the middle of calendar year 2023.”

Social Security would run out in the hypothetical scenario, but that’s not what Trump said he would let happen.

The president said in an August news conference that if he’s reelected, he wants to permanently end the payroll tax. However, he hasn’t said he wants or intends to deplete Social Security.

Trump hasn’t laid out a clear plan but has said he would rely on Congress to use general fund money to refill the Social Security fund if the payroll tax is eliminated.

“If we do that, we’ll get it approved, in that case by Congress, and we’ll take the money from other places other than — we will not take it from Social Security,” Trump said in the news conference.