Ron DeSantis weighed in on declining American life expectancy during a discussion of his Social Security position, ascribing it to “deaths of despair.”
During an interview Monday, the Florida Governor told CNBC viewers that “in the last five or six years, life expectancy in the United States has gone down.”
He did not blame it solely on the COVID-19 pandemic, even after his interviewer’s prompting.
“I think it started before COVID and I think it’s continued even here afterwards. I think it’s more than, more than just COVID. I mean, I think that there’s deaths of despair. I think you have (drugs),” DeSantis said.
“So, I think it’s hard to say, you know, raise the age (for Social Security eligibility) when the average life expectancy is going down. We used to think that life expectancy was just going to keep going up and that’s just not been the case.”
DeSantis’ position on senior citizen entitlements has been a moving target in recent months, as he has been walking back previous calls for “market forces” and privatization to replace the current programs.
The Governor clarified that the status quo would remain “for the elderly or people near retirement” during the segment, noting that longevity runs in his family.
“My grandmother lived until (the age of) 91,” DeSantis said, noting that Social Security was her “sole source of income.”
“There’s millions and millions of seniors out there where that’s (their) sole source in an inflationary era,” DeSantis added. “That’s really problematic because they do get a (cost-of-living adjustment) but the COLA is not enough.”
DeSantis has said before that changes for younger generations are inevitable, noting he doesn’t expect to draw the entitlement without material changes in federal practices.
“I think a lot of younger people like me are receptive to this because I don’t assume we’re going to get any of this at this point right now,” the 44-year-old Republican said during a May interview with John Stossel.
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