CNS News– Nikki Haley’s plan reduces 82% of Americans’ Social Security benefits. From Feb. 16-24, a Facebook ad on over 1 million screens criticizes Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley’s entitlement reform policies. “Americans were promised a secured retirement,” proclaims a former President Donald Trump campaign ad. “Nikki Haley’s plan ends that.”
The video shows Haley answering a television anchor’s question about managing Social Security and Medicare. “We say the rules have changed,” says Haley. We adjust the retirement age for life expectancy. We realize 65 is too low and must be raised.” Narrator: “Haley’s plan reduces 82% of Americans’ Social Security payouts. Trump will prevent that.”
Our rating: False
Ads misinterpret Haley’s comments. She proposed hiking the retirement age for 20-somethings, not retirees. Her plan does not appear to eliminate benefits for 82% of Americans. The accusation was denied by Haley’s campaign.
Haley’s Idea Would Raise Younger Retirees’ Age.
The ad displays Haley’s Aug. 24, 2023 interview with Bloomberg Television, but it omits her statement that she was talking about raising the retirement age only for younger people. “Social Security will fail in 10 years. “Medicare will fail in eight,” she predicted.
“So the way we deal with it is – we don’t touch anyone’s retirement or anyone who’s been promised in, but – we go to people like my kids in their 20s when they’re coming into the system, and we say the rules have changed,” Haley suggested altering the retirement age to reflect life expectancy, but she wasn’t sure what it should be.
We must determine what it is, she replied. “But what we do know is 65 is way too low, and we need to increase that.” The Social Security Administration allows anyone born after 1960 to receive their full retirement payment at 67. The full retirement age was 66 for 1943–1954 births.
From 1955 to 1960, the complete retirement age rises to 67. The retirement age for 1937-born people was 65. People born between 1938 and 1943 saw it rise two months at a time. The commercial claims Haley’s plan will decrease Social Security payouts for 82% of Americans, but how is unknown.
The commercial states “CNN 3/12/23″ as its source, although two CNN articles on the matter, both discussing Haley’s proposal to change the retirement age for 20-somethings, do not feature the 82% number or support the claim. The 82% statistic may refer to the overall number of Americans eligible for Social Security, according to Tax Foundation senior policy researcher Garrett Watson.
No reliable news reporting or economic analysis corroborates the ad’s 82% number. The ad’s allegation was also denied by Haley spokesman AnnMarie Graham-Barnes.”We can’t fact check Donald Trump’s lies because they’re…lies,” Graham-Barnes emailed.
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Haley’s plan would raise the retirement age for younger generations, index benefits to life expectancy, limit higher-income beneficiaries’ benefit growth, expand Medicare Advantage Plans, and use the chained Consumer Price Index to match Social Security cost-of-living increases to inflation. The strategy “does not take away from people nearing retirement or in retirement,” Graham-Barnes added.
The plan’s representative did not suggest a new retirement age. PolitiFact, which disputed the claim, calculated that excluding 25-year-olds from a retirement age increase “would likely reduce benefits for 26% of Americans alive today – decades from now.” Trump’s campaign declined to comment.