On Friday’s “PBS NewsHour,” New York Times columnist David Brooks stated that while President Joe Biden’s exchange with Congressional Republicans over entitlement spending during the State of the Union made Democrats happy, “there was no shot” Republicans were ever going to support cuts to Medicare and Social Security.
Co-host Amna Nawaz asked, “He did essentially carry out a kind of real-time negotiation, which was unusual to see, right? He drew out enough boos from Republicans when he referenced the handful of Republicans who have talked about entitlement reform. And the White House seems to think he secured a pledge that no one’s going to be touching Medicare or Social Security anytime soon, right? It was unusual, but was it effective, David?”
Brooks responded, “I think that moment was effective. It made all the Democrats I know really happy.”
He added, “Rick Scott (R) is the Sen. from Florida who said we should sunset laws after five years, and that was seized on as, oh, they’re going to cut your Medicare and Social Security. Maybe, maybe not. In any case, whatever Rick Scott was selling, Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) was not buying. So, there was no shot that the Republicans were really going to be for — against — for cutting entitlement spending.”
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