Fox News host Neil Cavuto explained what budget "cuts" actually mean during a segment on Monday about seeming slices to Medicaid spending in President Trump's budget.
The explanation came after Fox News correspondent Kristen Fisher reported on Trump's expected budget proposal.
"Now as we look at this folks, I think it's time to step back and understand what 'cut' means in Washington today. Cut does not mean what you think," Cavuto said while a graphic of proposed Medicaid spending appeared on the screen. "You see that blue line? That is the direction of Medicaid spending. See the red line? With the new health care plan target, it still grows, it just doesn't grow as much."
After briefly recalling an old ad that depicted Republican spending cuts as Paul Ryan pushing an old woman off a cliff, Cavuto pivoted back to explaining what cut means in Washington.
"Cuts are not what you think of cuts. The government will still grow. In Medicaid it will still be, over the next 10 years, over $5 trillion spent on that one program alone," Cavuto said. "It will still grow. It will grow at a rate double the inflation rate. Last year, it grew at a rate triple the inflation rate. Again, I'm a nerd with these numbers. That is not a cut, my friend. That is a trimming in the growth. It is very, very different."