Three leading groups representing the interests of senior citizens made clear Wednesday they believe that Democratic President Joe Biden is the far superior choice to presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump when it comes to protecting Social Security, Medicare, and other policies concerning older Americans.
The National Committee to Preserve Social Security & Medicare (NCPSSM), National United Committee to Protect Pensions (NUCPP), and Social Security Works Political Action Committee (PAC) all backed Biden over the presumed Republican nominee.
"The Biden-Harris administration's record on senior issues is impeccable,"
said Social Security Works PAC president Jon "Bowzer" Bauman. "In sharp contrast, Donald Trump is an existential threat to our earned benefits. Despite his lies that he will not cut Social Security, all of his budgets as president proposed deep cuts."
"Allowing Donald Trump back in the White House along with a potential Republican House majority where three-fourths of its members want to cut Social Security by $1.5 trillion, including raising the retirement age to 69, is unacceptable," he argued. "The choice in November couldn't be clearer."
"Donald Trump is an existential threat to our earned benefits."
In a Wednesday
opinion piece for Common Dreams, Social Security Works president Nancy Altman cataloged how Biden has "delivered for seniors in enormously consequential ways during his first term and will deliver even more if reelected."
"For years, politicians have talked about giving Medicare the power to negotiate lower prescription drug prices. Biden got it done. He took on Big Pharma and won," Altman wrote. "Republicans were threatening to hold hostage an increase in the debt limit—legislation essential to avoid a worldwide economic crash—in exchange for benefit cuts. Biden stood strong and won."
"Biden has endorsed congressional efforts to
expand both Social Security and Medicare, and he supports paying for those expansions by requiring billionaires and the uber-wealthy to pay their fair share," she continued. He's "replaced the no-show Trump crony heading the Social Security Administration with a proven champion" as well as "proposed minimum staffing standards for nursing homes, worked to boost compensation and job quality for care workers, and fought to improve and expand care options."
After noting that the Biden administration also "forced shady financial advisers to stop ripping off working people planning for retirement," she took aim at Trump along with U.S. House Speaker
Mike Johnson (R-La.) and House Budget Committee Chair Jodey Arrington (R-Texas) over their plans for federal programs that serve older Americans.
Altman has previously
called out the Republican Study Committee—made up of the vast majority of GOP House members—over the group's budget proposal for fiscal year 2025, which she said proves that "the Republican Party is the party of cutting Social Security and Medicare, while giving tax handouts to billionaires."
"Hardworking Americans' retirement and health security is at stake."
Like the Social Security Works leaders, NUCPP president Kenneth Stribling on Wednesday highlighted Biden's progress so far—particularly cutting drug prices—and stressed that "the stakes for seniors are crucial in the November election."
"Not only does President Biden continue to be pro-labor, but he also supports seniors and promises to protect Social Security and Medicare," Stribling said. "There is no doubt that Social Security and Medicare need to be fixed. But the question remains: 'On whose back is that going to fall?' If Social Security and Medicare are under attack, we will activate our forces again and make our voices heard in Washington and at the ballot boxes in November."
NCPSSM president and CEO and Max Richtman on Wednesday
pointed to his group's first-ever presidential endorsement during the last election cycle, saying that "we broke precedent in 2020 because we believed Joe Biden would fight for America's seniors—and protect Social Security and Medicare. We did not trust Donald Trump to safeguard either program or to uphold other cherished American institutions. Four years later, those beliefs have been validated beyond dispute."
After also listing Biden's positive actions and the threats posed by Trump, Richtman said that "as one of the nation's leading seniors' advocacy groups, with millions of members and supporters across the United States, we have a responsibility to put our weight behind candidates for federal office with respect for American institutions and the programs we defend."
In addition to backing Biden, "our PAC is endorsing candidates for Congress who strongly support Social Security and Medicare," he explained, also noting the group's national voter education campaign. "We believe that this is an existential election for Social Security and Medicare. Hardworking Americans' retirement and health security is at stake. Even though our organization has not traditionally endorsed presidential candidates, these past two cycles are obviously different."
"Another Trump presidency would be an absolute nightmare for America's seniors."
Biden campaign manager Julie Chávez Rodriguez said that the president "has always had the backs of seniors and he is honored to receive the endorsement" of three groups "at the forefront of efforts to advocate for seniors and protect vital programs like Social Security and Medicare."
"With today's endorsements, we will be stronger and more prepared than ever to mobilize seniors across the country, to remind voters of how dangerous Trump and his policies are, and to make him a loser again this November," she declared.
Reutersreported Wednesday that "older Americans could play a key role in the election, given that they vote at higher levels than any other group and account for nearly 10 million voters in key election battleground states, including Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Georgia, Arizona, and Nevada."
The groups' announcements followed the Tuesday
launch of the Biden campaign's national organizing program to engage older voters across the United States to reelect the president and Vice President Kamala Harris.
"Another Trump presidency would be an absolute nightmare for America's seniors, which is why Seniors for Biden-Harris will be critical to beating Donald Trump once again," said Chávez Rodriguez. "Seniors deserve a president who puts them first—that's President Biden."
