WaPo gives Sen. Patty Murray 'Four Pinocchios' for saying Republicans plan to 'end' Social Security, Medicare

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The Washington Post handed down four "Pinocchios" to Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., for her claim warning of the "end" Social Security and Medicare if Republicans take control of Congress. 

Murray, who is fighting in a tightening reelection battle against GOP challenger Tiffany Smiley, tweeted on Sunday, "Republicans plan to end Social Security and Medicare if they take back the Senate."

Glenn Kessler, the Post's fact-checker, characterized Murray's tweet as a "'Mediscare' attack" to win over senior voters. 

"Don’t worry, seniors: There is no such plan," Kessler assured elderly readers. 

WASHINGTON POST GIVES WHITE HOUSE ‘THREE PINOCCHIOS’ FOR CLAIMING REPUBLICANS ARE DEFUNDING POLICE

U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) speaks after the weekly Senate Democratic policy luncheon in the U.S. Capitol in Washington, DC, U.S., February 15, 2022.  (REUTERS/Jon Cherry)

Kessler outlined Democrats' long history of unsubstantiated attacks towards Republicans over intentions to gut Social Security and Medicare, stressing that the new attacks going into the November elections are "just as empty as the previous ones."

The Murray campaign told Kessler, "One of Tiffany Smiley’s biggest champions is Rick Scott, who leads the National Republican Senatorial Committee and wrote its agenda which proposes gutting Social Security and Medicare. If Republicans like Smiley disagree, they should call on Rick Scott to be removed as Chair or stop taking money from the NRSC, which she has refused to do. We are absolutely going to make sure Tiffany Smiley is held accountable for how the official Senate Republican campaign agenda would harm Washington seniors."

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Except Kessler outlined how Scott's "Rescue America" plan, which proposed "All federal legislation sunsets in 5 years" unless renewed by Congress, was widely rejected by GOP leadership including Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. He also noted that Scott himself stressed he did not want to end Social Security and Medicare.

Washington Post fact-checker Glenn Kessler handed down four "Pinocchios" to Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., on Tuesday.  (ERIC BARADAT/AFP via Getty Images) (Getty images / Singerhmk - wiki commons)

Murray's staff also cited a quote from Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., who said in January if Republicans win back the Senate, "I will do everything in my power to make sure we have a vote on a balanced-budget amendment to the Constitution," suggesting that could impact Social Security and Medicare. 

Kessler rebuffed Murray's "evidence" by calling Graham's proposed vote as a pure show of "political messaging" since it would need the support of 67 senators, two-thirds of House lawmakers and three-fourths of states.

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"Murray tweeted that if Senate Republicans win control of the Senate, they plan to end Social Security and Medicare. But as evidence, her staff can only point to statements by a pair of Senate Republicans that have earned little support among their colleagues," Kessler wrote. "The presumptive Senate Republican leader explicitly rejected the idea. Moreover, in both cases, the senators insisted that they were not trying to eliminate the programs but instead bolster their financial underpinnings. Whether such actions would reduce benefits is open to debate, but it’s not the same as ending the programs."

"This is yet another example in which Democrats strain to conjure up a nonexistent GOP plan regarding Social Security and Medicare. Murray earns Four Pinocchios," Kessler concluded. 

Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) gives an opening statement during a Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee hearing to discuss reopening schools during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) at Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., U.S., September 30, 2021.  (Greg Nash/Pool via REUTERS)

Republicans are still eying a takeover of Congress after Democrats hoped that a string of legislative victories for President Biden and the Supreme Court's overturning of Roe v. Wade would motivate voters to block a red wave from occurring in the midterms. 

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Polls in key Senate races are beginning to tighten, including Murray's bid against Smiley, a nurse and wife to a wounded Iraq War veteran.