Tech billionaire Elon Musk, head of the so-called “Department of Government Efficiency” (DOGE), purported on Friday that Social Security is a “Ponzi scheme” — a false claim that is likely an attempt to lay the groundwork for DOGE to target the highly popular agency for mass spending cuts.
Musk made the comments on Friday in an appearance on “The Joe Rogan Experience” — a podcast with a long history of allowing guests to peddle disinformation without pushback.
“We found just with a basic search of the Social Security database that there were 20 million dead people marked as alive. Some of them are getting money,” Musk told host Joe Rogan, parroting a long-debunked Republican talking point.
The claim was most recently debunked by Trump-appointed acting Social Security Commissioner, Lee Dudek. “People in our records with a Social Security number who do not have a date of death associated with their record…are not necessarily receiving benefits,” Dudek said in February.
Indeed, Musk’s comments reveal his unfamiliarity with how systems within the Social Security Administration (SSA) work — when the system is unsure about a certain date, for example, it defaults to the year 1875. And despite Musk’s claims that dead people are still receiving benefits, recipients are automatically disenrolled after age 115 as a failsafe to prevent that from happening.
Democratic lawmakers in Congress blasted Musk’s comments, particularly his claims that Social Security is a “pyramid scheme” and a “Ponzi scheme.”
“You don’t need to scratch your head and wonder what’s going on when you see that the Trump administration is decimating Social Security offices and staff,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-New York) said in a statement. “And you don’t need to ponder what might happen next when Elon Musk, the richest man in the world, says that the tens-of-millions of seniors, families, and children who depend on these earned benefits are part of some scam — because that’s a real threat and a real promise: they are coming for your Social Security.”
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-New York) also criticized Musk’s statements on the podcast, pointing out that the tech billionaire was spreading lies about Social Security while receiving lucrative federal contracts.
Musk “is a leech on the public,” Ocasio-Cortez said on X. “No matter how many billions he gets in tax cuts and government contracts, it will never be enough for him.”
“Now he’s going after the elderly, the disabled, and orphaned children so he can pocket it in tax cuts for himself. It’s disgusting,” she added.
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) condemned Musk’s comments in an appearance on NBC News’s “Meet the Press” program on Sunday.
“I think what Musk, the wealthiest guy in the world, just said is totally outrageous. It’s a hell of a ‘Ponzi scheme’ when for the last 80 years Social Security has paid out every nickel owed to every eligible American,” Sanders said.
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