Former Vice President Joe Biden and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders went toe-to-toe at the CNN Democratic debate on Sunday over Biden's record on Social Security. The debate marked the first time the two frontrunners were alone on stage together, and allowed for them to directly attack each other in back-to-back exchanges. "Bernie, you're running ads saying I'm against Social Security, that Politifact says is a flat lie," Biden began.
"Oh, well, let me ask you a question, Joe," Sanders fired back. "You're right here with me. Have you been on the floor of the Senate — you were in the Senate for a few years — time and time again talking about the necessity, with pride, about cutting social security, cutting Medicare, cutting veterans programs?"
"No," Biden answered.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
"You never said that?" Sanders continued to push Biden, urging him to "just tell the truth here. We all make mistakes … I want you to just be straight with the American people. I am saying you have been on the floor of the Senate time and time again talking about the need to cut social security, Medicare, and veterans benefits. Is that true or not true?"
"No, it's not true," Biden maintained.
Sanders appeared to be referring in particular to a speech Biden gave in 1995, when he said: "When I argued if we should freeze federal spending, I meant social security as well, I meant Medicare and Medicaid, I meant veterans benefits, I meant every single solitary thing." Politifact has contextualized that attack, noting that "in the 1980s and 1990s, [Biden] supported a one-year freeze in benefits" and "in the 2000s, he opposed benefit cuts, protected Social Security from automatic budget cuts, and supported a change that would reduce benefits by about 4.5 percent over 40 years." Watch the entire exchange below. Jeva Lange
-
The UK’s opioid crisis: why the stats don’t add upThe Explainer A new report has revealed that the UK’s total of opioid-related deaths could be much greater than official figures show
-
Gaza genocide: will UN ruling change anything?Today's Big Question Commission of Inquiry’s findings ‘give unprecedented weight’ to genocide claims
-
How The Summer I Turned Pretty has brought out the worst in its fansIn the Spotlight Amazon’s love-triangle hit ‘driving some of the most bonkers and unhinged online energy in the history of the internet’
-
House posts lewd Epstein note attributed to TrumpSpeed Read The estate of Jeffrey Epstein turned over the infamous 2003 birthday note from President Donald Trump
-
Supreme Court allows 'roving' race-tied ICE raidsSpeed Read The court paused a federal judge's order barring agents from detaining suspected undocumented immigrants in LA based on race
-
South Korea to fetch workers detained in Georgia raidSpeed Read More than 300 South Korean workers detained in an immigration raid at a Hyundai plant will be released
-
DC sues Trump to end Guard 'occupation'Speed Read D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb argues that the unsolicited military presence violates the law
-
RFK Jr. faces bipartisan heat in Senate hearingSpeed Read The health secretary defended his leadership amid CDC turmoil and deflected questions about the restricted availability of vaccines
-
White House defends boat strike as legal doubts mountSpeed Read Experts say there was no legal justification for killing 11 alleged drug-traffickers
-
Epstein accusers urge full file release, hint at own listspeed read A rally was organized by Reps. Ro Khanna and Thomas Massie, who are hoping to force a vote on their Epstein Files Transparency Act
-
Court hands Harvard a win in Trump funding battleSpeed Read The Trump administration was ordered to restore Harvard's $2 billion in research grants
