Trump scrambles to do damage control after his disastrous comments on Social Security cuts go viral

President Donald Trump on Friday rushed to contain the fallout from his Fox News town hall appearance in which he signaled that he'd be willing to make cuts to Social Security and Medicare.

After a person at the town hall asked Trump about dealing with the deficit, the president suggested that the deficit might not be as much of a problem once his newly minted trade deals kick in.

When pressed on the need to cut Social Security and Medicare, Trump said, "We’ll be cutting, but we’re also going to have growth like you’ve never had before."

Hours later, the president took to Twitter to claim he wasn't going to touch either program.

"I will protect your Social Security and Medicare, just as I have for the past 3 years," the president wrote. "Sleepy Joe Biden will destroy both in very short order, and he won’t even know he’s doing it!"