Biden warns Republicans who want to cut benefits

– US President Joe Biden on Thursday vowed to maintain social and healthcare benefits for elderly and low-income Americans, warning he would be a “nightmare” for Republicans seeking to take them away.

“A lot of Republicans, their dream is to cut social security and Medicare,” Biden said during a trip to the Republican stronghold of Florida, which has one of the highest number of people without health insurance.

“Let me say this: if that’s your dream, I’m your nightmare.”

Even though he has not yet officially declared his candidacy, Biden appeared to be speaking with an eye to the 2024 presidential election, betting heavily on boosting social programmes to rally voters.

The speech borrowed from Biden’s State of the Union address on Tuesday, when he blasted Republicans for seeking to cut social spending to lower the country’s huge debt.

Some Republicans in the audience also shouted that they did not intend to take away the benefits, but Biden was sceptical about those promises on Thursday, saying: “I’ll believe it when I see it.”

About 18% of Americans are on Medicare, federal health insurance for people 65 or older, and other people with certain disabilities.

Medicaid is a separate programme partly financed and operated by states that covers medical costs for low-income Americans of all ages.

Speaking in a state that has a large population of seniors and also 5.5 million low-income people on Medicaid, Biden blasted Florida governor Ron DeSantis for blocking the expansion of Medicaid.

“Over 1.1 million [more] people in Florida would be eligible for Medicaid if governor DeSantis just said, ‘I agree to expand’,” Biden said. “The only reason Medicaid expansion hasn’t happened here is politics.”

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