White House Brags About Social Security Check Increase Caused by Inflation

A White House tweet about Social Security check increases is getting some grief, and a label from Twitter.

During a campaign stop Tuesday in Florida to denounce Republicans' economic intentions, President Joe Biden discussed Social Security and inflation in a gaffe-filled speech.

"And on my watch, for the first time in 10 years, seniors are getting an increase in their Social Security checks," Biden said. "So, checks are going to be up and Medicare payments are going to be down."

The official White House account tweeted: "Seniors are getting the biggest increase in their Social Security checks in 10 years through President Biden's leadership."

Twitter then added a "context" label below the tweet, adding information that it "thought people might want to know." The label reads that people "will receive a large Social Security benefit increase due to the annual cost of living adjustment, which is based on the inflation rate."

It also references how in 1972, President Richard Nixon signed into law automatic benefit adjustments tied to the Consumer Price Index. One aspect of that legislation included a very minor debt extension bill with a rider authorizing automatic Cost of Living Allowances (COLAs).

"Biden social media geniuses are giving Biden credit for the biggest Social Security COLA in 10 years, but neglect to mention that SS COLA is an automatic formula based on government inflation metric (CPI)," Republican Representative Thomas Massie of Kentucky tweeted.

The Social Security Administration announced the most recent COLA of 8.7 percent for Social Security benefits and Supplemental Security Income payments, starting in December and payable in January. The increase of more than $140 per month will impact about 70 million Americans.

Ahead of the next week's midterm elections, the White House has continually warned the American public about threats to Medicare and Social Security if the GOP takes the majority in Congress.

That has included criticism of Florida Republican Senator and National Republican Senatorial Committee Chair Rick Scott, whom the White House said "has championed a plan to put Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security on the chopping block every five years."

"Congressional Republicans have repeatedly pledged to hold the American economy hostage by refusing to raise the debt limit unless they can cut Social Security and Medicare benefits that tens of millions of Americans have already paid into," the White House added.

Some Democrats have warned about the impact of inflation on the economy, notably in terms of repeated interest-rate hikes by the Federal Reserve—which on Wednesday was expected to increase rates again.

Newsweek reached out to the White House for comment.