The world's richest man has called Social Security a "Ponzi scheme," drawing outrage from Democrats while possibly undercutting his boss. "There are fewer babies being born," Elon Musk told Joe Rogan on his podcast Friday, "and you have more people who are retired that live for a long time and get [Social Security] payments." What Social Security has done since Franklin Roosevelt's administration is collect contributions from workers' paychecks and send a monthly benefit to eligible Americans, including those who are retired or disabled, per USA Today. Musk also repeated his claim, which has been debunked before, that the program is rife with fraud.
Musk's comments caught Democrats' attention. Sen. Adam Schiff said they show Republicans are "coming after Social Security and Medicare. And they aren't even hiding it." Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders said Sunday that Social Security's shortfall could be fixed by eliminating the tax cap. As it is, workers are taxed on the first $176,100 of their wages, so that a hypothetical employee as wealthy as Musk could be paying as much in tax "as a truck driver," Sanders said. "That'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, calling Musk's comments "totally outrageous," per the Daily Beast.
Disparaging Social Security sounds like a deviation from the Republican Party line. President Trump, even as he talks about cutting government, has repeatedly said Social Security and Medicaid are untouchable, the New York Times points out. And GOP House Speaker Mike Johnson did address the matter Sunday, saying any deep dive by Musk into Social Security would be aimed at "fraud, waste and abuse." (More Social Security stories.)
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