Donald Trump might not have even realized it, but he just made social security a major issue in the presidential election. Earlier this week CNBC asked him “(Will) entitlements ever be on your plate?” He replied “At some point they will be… It’ll be toward the end of the year… and at the right time we will take a look at that.” And with that, he opened up a big can of worms. Or as Washington Post opinion writer Helaine Olen puts it:

Now Trump — out of ignorance, bluster or hubris — has all but taped an attack ad for his eventual Democratic opponent. Democrats can’t afford to let this opportunity slip away. They need to hang it around Trump’s neck, and the only way they will reliably be able to do that is to select a challenger whose record on protecting Social Security and Medicare is rock-solid.

CNN political analyst Joe Lockhart adds:

For a President at 43% job approval to run on cutting entitlements, well Barry Goldwater comes to mind. This may be the single most unpopular idea in America from the single most unpopular Politician.

While Trump tried to walk the comments back Thursday, the New York Times points out:

The Trump administration has already tried to cut food stamps, rental assistance for low-income housing, and Medicaid through efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act, said Chye-Ching Huang, the director of federal fiscal policy at the left-leaning Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. The most recent White House budget proposed a $10 billion cut to the Social Security Disability Insurance program, which provides benefits to disabled workers.

“This is just the latest of many instances of the Trump administration making clear through statements, budgets, legislation and administrative actions that their basic policy goal is tax cuts for the well-off hand-in-hand with targeting critical programs, including those that support low- and moderate-income people,” Ms. Huang said.

And indeed some Democratic candidates are also seizing on the opportunity. Here is reaction.

Bernie Sanders

Over and over, Donald Trump promised Americans that he would not cut Social Security and Medicare. He lied. When we win, we’re not going to just protect Social Security and Medicare, we’re going to expand them.

Joe Biden

My administration will not cut Social Security or Medicare benefits. Period. We’ll expand them. Meanwhile, Donald Trump is saying he would consider sacrificing seniors’ benefits to protect tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans and big companies.

Elizabeth Warren

Trump’s spent his entire presidency attacking every lifeline we have for struggling families. Democrats will win by not just defending these benefits, but by fighting for progressive expansion of Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid.