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President Trump on Thursday sought to assure his followers on Twitter that he would protect Social Security benefits after Democrats seized on an interview in which he indicated he would be open to cutting entitlement programs down the road. Trump told CNBC in an interview on Wednesday at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, that he would "take a look at" rolling back entitlements "at the right time" before quickly pivoting to discuss the strength of the economy. (Samuels, 1/23)

When President Trump suggested to an interviewer at the World Economic Forum in Switzerland that he would, “at some point,” look at cutting entitlement programs, his Democratic critics seized on the comments as evidence that Mr. Trump would gut Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid in a second term. “Even as the impeachment trial is underway, Trump is still talking about cutting your Social Security,” Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, the Democratic leader, said at the beginning of a news conference that was ostensibly about the Senate impeachment trial. (Haberman and Rappeport, 1/23)

A spat between former Vice President Joe Biden and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) over social security has brought an issue long considered a sacred cow for Democrats to the forefront of the 2020 race. The two leading Democratic contenders have in recent days lobbed attacks against each other on social security, as they both engage in an intensifying battle for the nomination with just over a week left before the Iowa caucus. (Elis, 1/24)