One of Vice President Kamala Harris's frequent claims on the campaign trail is that former president Donald Trump wants to reduce benefits under Social Security and Medicare, two of the nation's most popular government programs.
"He intends to cut Social Security and Medicare," Harris often says during campaign stops.
Social Security is a major source of income for 9 out 10 seniors and offers support for Americans with disabilities.
Medicare provides lower-cost health coverage for 65 million people.
Together these benefit programs cost more than $5 trillion in federal spending, equaling a third of the entire U.S. budget.
The Harris campaign has pointed to a CNBC interview in March with Trump as proof that he wants to make cuts to Social Security and Medicaid.
The reporter asks the former president, "Have you changed your outlook on how to handle entitlements, Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid?"
Trump responds, "First of all there is a lot you can do in terms of entitlements, in terms of cutting and in terms of also the theft and the bad management of entitlements …"
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The Trump camp later said he was talking about cutting waste, not benefits.
On other occasions, Trump has been clear about wanting to protect both programs.
"I will not cut one penny from Social Security or Medicare," Trump said on July 27 during a rally in St. Cloud, Minnesota.
As president, Trump supported budgets that would have made minor trims to Social Security disability payments and may have scaled back Medicare benefits, according to some analysts. Those proposed budgets were never adopted by Congress.
Harris' claim that Trump intends to cut Social Security and Medicare is mostly false.
During his first term, the former president was willing to reduce at least some benefits but in the 2024 campaign, he has repeatedly vowed to not take away money from either program.
Beyond Trump's words, there is also a pledge printed in this year's Republican platform to preserve Social Security and Medicare funding.
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