Republican presidential candidate Ron DeSantis defended his plan to cut Social Security but promised that the program would be kept in place for people over 50.
During an interview on Fox News, host Howard Kurtz asked DeSantis why he had changed positions on Social Security after supporting cuts to benefits for seniors while he was in Congress.
"You've said that Republicans are not going to mess with Social Security, but as a congressman, you voiced support for privatizing Social Security and raising the retirement age to 70 for future seniors down the road," Kurtz noted. "What made you change your mind?"
"Of course, we're going to protect people's Social Security," DeSantis claimed. "So when people say that we're going to somehow cut seniors, that is totally not true. Talking about making changes for people in their 30s or 40s so that the program's viable, that's a much different thing, and that's something that I think there's going to need to be discussions on. But that's just the reality in terms of where I've been, so I don't think it's necessarily a change."
He also said privatizing Social Security was "totally not on the table."
