Image Credit: Greg Nash
Elon Musk, billionaire CEO and head of the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), is once again pushing right-wing disinformation—this time targeting Social Security. During a recent appearance on The Joe Rogan Experience, Musk falsely claimed that Social Security is a “Ponzi scheme” and suggested widespread fraud within the program.
Musk’s comments, while not new in conservative circles, are part of a broader pattern of attacks on Social Security, which millions of Americans rely on for retirement and disability benefits. As the Trump administration moves to gut the Social Security Administration’s workforce, progressive lawmakers warn that Musk’s rhetoric is a calculated effort to justify devastating cuts to the program.
On Rogan’s podcast, Musk repeated a series of debunked talking points about Social Security, falsely alleging widespread fraud and financial mismanagement.
“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 said.
His claim is demonstrably false. Lee Dudek, a Trump-appointed acting Social Security Commissioner, dismissed the notion that Social Security is paying benefits to millions of deceased individuals.
“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 clarified in February.
Musk also misrepresented the Social Security Administration’s database, which defaults to the year 1875 when a date of death is unknown—a long-standing failsafe that does not mean deceased individuals are collecting payments. Furthermore, Social Security automatically disenrolls recipients over the age of 115, making fraud of the scale Musk suggests impossible.
Beyond these claims, Musk went even further, calling Social Security “the biggest Ponzi scheme of all time.”
This is another outright lie. Unlike a Ponzi scheme, which relies on ever-increasing numbers of new investors to pay existing ones, Social Security is a pay-as-you-go system. Current workers fund benefits for retirees through payroll taxes, a system that has been in place since 1935 and has never missed a payment in nearly 90 years.
Musk’s attack on Social Security is not just empty rhetoric—it aligns with the Trump administration’s broader strategy to weaken the program. Under Acting Commissioner Leland Dudek, the administration has already moved to cut the Social Security Administration’s workforce by 50%, a decision that would:
• Increase wait times for benefits.
• Create bureaucratic barriers for retirees, disabled Americans, and survivors.
• Reduce the agency’s efficiency, providing justification for further cuts and privatization.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer warned that Musk’s statements are part of a larger, more dangerous agenda.
“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,” Schumer said. “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.”
Musk is not only spreading lies about Social Security, but he is doing so while continuing to profit from lucrative federal contracts and tax incentives.
Progressive lawmakers have condemned Musk’s disinformation campaign, highlighting the hypocrisy of a billionaire who receives billions in taxpayer-funded subsidies attacking a program that helps working Americans retire with dignity.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was among the most vocal critics.
“Musk is a leech on the public. No matter how many billions he gets in tax cuts and government contracts, it will never be enough for him,” she wrote on X.
“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.”
Sen. Bernie Sanders also rejected Musk’s Ponzi scheme comparison, calling his remarks “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 in an appearance on Meet the Press. “Quite a Ponzi scheme.”
Musk’s attacks on Social Security come at a time when Republicans are pushing for cuts to benefits, while refusing to raise taxes on the ultra-wealthy.
Under the current system, Social Security taxes only apply to income up to $176,100 per year. This means that:
• A billionaire like Musk pays the same amount in Social Security taxes as someone earning $176,100 per year.
• By mid-January, wealthy Americans have already “paid their fair share” for the year, while middle-class and working Americans continue paying year-round.
Rather than cutting benefits, progressive lawmakers propose strengthening Social Security by lifting the payroll tax cap so that billionaires and high-income earners contribute their fair share.
“You lift that cap, we can extend the solvency of Social Security for 75 years. And you can raise benefits,” Sanders said.
If Musk were truly concerned about Social Security’s long-term sustainability, he would support taxing the ultra-wealthy instead of fearmongering about insolvency.
Beyond his misleading statements, Musk also positioned himself as a victim, suggesting that his so-called “fight against corruption” could result in his assassination.
“I actually have to be careful that I don’t push too hard on the corruption stuff, because it’s going to get me killed,” Musk claimed. “If I fully destroy the corruption and the graft, they will kill me.”
This bizarre claim, combined with his insistence that he is being targeted in the same way as Trump, is a clear attempt to frame himself as a political martyr.
“They’re making it sound like, if you kill me, you’re a hero,” Musk said.
By portraying himself as a persecuted figure, Musk is attempting to distract from the real consequences of his agenda: gutting essential social programs while securing massive tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans.
Wall Street firms have long sought to privatize Social Security, turning it into a high-risk investment scheme that would benefit financial institutions while leaving retirees vulnerable to market volatility.
Weakening Social Security allows billionaires to secure even larger tax breaks, under the guise of reducing the deficit.
• Seniors, disabled Americans, and low-income workers depend on Social Security as a lifeline.
• Benefit cuts would push millions into poverty, homelessness, or reliance on already underfunded welfare programs.
• Any attack on Social Security is an attack on the most vulnerable Americans.
Musk’s false claims about Social Security are part of a broader, coordinated effort to dismantle the program and justify cuts.
• The Trump administration is already undermining the Social Security Administration by slashing staffing and resources.
• Progressives are fighting back by advocating to:
• Expand Social Security benefits.
• Lift the payroll tax cap so billionaires pay their fair share.
• Block any attempt to privatize or dismantle the program.