In his first speech since leaving office, former President Joe Biden criticized the Trump administration’s staffing cuts and other changes at the Social Security Administration, but he made several misleading claims in the process.
Q: Is it true the rumor that all Social Security beneficiaries will have to go to a location to verify their identity to receive their monthly check?
A: The Social Security Administration had announced new policies on identity verification that would have required those applying for retirement and survivor benefits for the first time to verify their identity either online or in person at a field office. Phone verification wasn’t going to be an option any longer.
Abrupt changes in staffing and some procedures at the Social Security Administration, coupled with false and misleading claims about widespread fraud, have prompted heated criticism from Democrats, with some statements leaving the wrong impression that benefits are being cut. Experts share a concern that disorderly actions by the Trump administration could cause administrative errors and disruptions, but there has been no proposed change to benefits mandated by law.
In his first address to a joint session of Congress in his second term, President Donald Trump distorted the facts on fraud, immigration, aid to Ukraine, the economy, autism and more.
Democrats and Republicans are accusing one another of “lying” about what a House Republican budget resolution means for Medicaid, and both sides have made misleading or speculative comments. There’s little doubt the health care program would face cuts under the plan — and it would have to if Medicare cuts are off limits.
After U.S. and Russian officials met in Saudi Arabia to discuss an end to Russia’s war in Ukraine, President Donald Trump made several false and misleading statements about the conflict and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
In several court cases, federal judges have temporarily blocked the Trump administration from broadly cutting or freezing federal spending. President Donald Trump claimed that the judges “want to try and stop us from looking for corruption” and “hold us back from finding all of this fraud.” But the court orders don’t stop investigations into corruption or fraud.
With the stroke of a pen, President Donald Trump on Jan. 20 granted clemency — either a pardon or commuted sentence — to all of the more than 1,500 people charged in connection with the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot. But at an Oval Office signing event and in a Fox News interview, Trump made several misleading or false claims while explaining the reason for his decision.
In a half-hour inaugural address, newly sworn-in President Donald Trump twisted some facts while painting the last few years under his predecessor, Joe Biden, as a time of “decline” and promising “the golden age of America begins right now.”
In his farewell address to the nation and in other recent remarks, President Joe Biden has repeated claims that are misleading or need additional context.