Who you gonna' believe... RNC Chair Ronna Don't-Call-Me-Romney McDaniel, or the members of her party who keep saying the quiet part out loud?

During an interview on CNN's State of the Union this Sunday, McDaniel was asked about Mike Pence's recent statement that Social Security and Medicare ought to be on the chopping block even if Republicans don't use them as hostages over raising the debt ceiling:

Former Vice President Mike Pence said Wednesday that cuts to Medicare and Social Security should be "on the table for the long term," differentiating himself from former President Donald Trump as he considers a run for the Oval Office.

"We're looking at a debt crisis in this country over the next 25 years that's driven by entitlements, and nobody in Washington, D.C., wants to talk about it," Pence said on CNBC's "Squawk Box."

The future of the major entitlement programs is quickly shaping up as a battleground for the 2024 Republican presidential primary, particularly between early front-runners: Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. That is happening against the backdrop of President Joe Biden's using his State of the Union address to criticize GOP proposals to shrink the entitlement programs, including a since-amended plan by Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., that would have put them at risk of termination every five years. [...]

Pence, a former chairman of the Republican Study Committee, declined Wednesday to detail how he would alter the major entitlement programs, but he said changes must be made — even as House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., has said he will not use a coming fight over raising the debt ceiling to try to force cuts in Medicare and Social Security.

"We all know where the real issue is in terms of long-term debt for the United States, and that is that, while I respect the speaker's commitment to take Social Security and Medicare off the table for the debt-ceiling negotiations, we've got to put them on the table for the long term," Pence said.

Republicans have been talking out of both sides of their mouths on this issue for years because they know cuts to the programs are political suicide, but despite that fact, the useless Dana Bash allowed McDaniel to just flat out lie and accuse Democrats of "using scare tactics."

Sorry Ronna, but simply pointing out to the public what Republicans' actual policy positions are is not a "scare tactic." Rather than challenge McDaniel, Bash just moved right along to the next topic:

BASH: You accuse President Biden of using scare tactics when it comes to Republicans wanting to cut Social Security and Medicare.

Mike Pence this past week, who's widely expected to run for president, said that he believes that the speaker -- he respects the speaker's commitment to take Social Security Medicare off the table for the debt ceiling, but that, in the long term, they should be on the table.

Is that the right approach?

MCDANIEL: Medicare and Social Security are off the table. Speaker McCarthy has said this. Leader McConnell has said this. This is not up for negotiation.

And I'm not going to give the Democrats any leverage on this.

BASH: Is that what Mike Pence is doing?

MCDANIEL: I think the -- Speaker McCarthy and Leader McConnell has said it's off the table.

And to see President Biden go in front of the American people and trying to scare them was something that he knew wasn't true. It was a lie. Republicans are going to make sure that we honor our commitment to Social Security and Medicare.