The White House on Wednesday deleted a tweet that credited “President Biden’s leadership” for the increase in Social Security payments, which was flagged by Twitter as something that was actually caused by a 40-year high in inflation.
“Seniors are getting the biggest increase in their Social Security checks in 10 years through President Biden’s leadership,” the White House tweeted Tuesday.
That tweet disappeared without an explanation from the White House by early Wednesday afternoon.
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That original tweet was accompanied by a note from Twitter that said many readers were adding “context” to the WH message that said the jump in Social Security payments were “due to the annual cost of living adjustment, which is based on the inflation rate.”
Twitter adds “context” notes when they are rated highly enough by Twitter users, a point that Twitter’s new owner, Elon Musk, stressed on Wednesday morning.
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“The community notes feature is awesome. Our goal is to make Twitter the most accurate source of information on Earth, without regard to political affiliation,” Musk said.
Social Security benefits will rise by 8.7% next year, which is the largest cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) since 1981. The Social Security Administration calculates COLA based on the increase in the Consumer Price Index from the third quarter of 2021 to third quarter 2022.
The White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment about why the tweet was deleted, or whether the White House is under any obligation to preserve all of its tweets and other social media messages for the record.
