Alex Brandon/Associated Press
- In a tweet Wednesday, the White House credited President Biden with raising Social Security payments.
- The tweet was deleted after users flagged it as misleading and Twitter added a fact-check label.
- The White House said it was missing context, but Biden has touted the Social Security increase before.
The White House credited President Joe Biden with an upcoming increase in Social Security payments in a tweet on Wednesday — but quickly deleted it after a fact-check label was added due to a Twitter feature that allows users to flag misleading or incorrect posts.
"Seniors are getting the biggest increase in their Social Security checks in 10 years through President Biden's leadership," the since-deleted post from the official White House Twitter account said.
Seniors will be getting the largest Social Security payments in decades, but as a result of rampant inflation — rather than any specific effort by Biden, Insider's Jason Lalljee reported. Adjustments to Social Security benefits due to cost of living have been automatic since 1972. In line with such adjustments, the Social Security Administration announced last month benefits would be increasing by 8.7%.
Twitter users quickly criticized the tweet's characterization of the increase as a Biden administration accomplishment and apparently also flagged it to Twitter. Shortly after the tweet was posted, a context label was added, pointing out the increase was due to annual cost of living adjustments.
The White House deleted the tweet within hours of the label being added.
—Kate Davidson (@KateDavidson) November 2, 2022
The White House did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment, but press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Wednesday the tweet was removed because it was missing context, saying it was not "complete."
"In the past we've pointed out that for the first time in over a decade seniors' medicare premiums will decrease even as their Social Security checks increase, " she said, adding: "This means that seniors will have a chance to get ahead of inflation due to the rare combination of rising benefits and falling premiums."
But it wasn't the first time Biden has appeared to try and take credit for the boost to Social Security payments.
"On our watch, for the first time in 10 years, seniors are going to get the biggest increase in their Social Security checks they've gotten," Biden said last week at a Democratic fundraiser, according to CNN.
Elon Musk, for his part, appeared to celebrate the way the events played out. One tweet that noted the White House deleted the post after the label was added said "Welcome to @elonmusk's Twitter," crediting the Tesla billionaire.
Twitter's new owner responded, writing, "The system is working," along with a laugh-crying emoji.
But according to Twitter, the label was added as a result of Birdwatch, a feature that was first piloted in 2021, long before the SpaceX CEO planned to buy the platform. Birdwatch allows users to flag information in tweets that they believe is misleading.
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