Former President Joe Biden said Tuesday evening that the Trump administration has “taken a hatchet” to the agency that manages Social Security.
“In fewer than 100 days, this new administration has done so much damage and so much destruction,” Biden said during his 30-minute remarks at the national conference of Advocates, Counselors and Representatives for the Disabled in Chicago. “It’s kind of breathtaking.”
The former president referred to Social Security as a “sacred promise” and discussed the work of his administration to improve services at the Social Security Administration.
“In the 90 years since Franklin Roosevelt created the Social Security system, people have always gotten their Social Security checks. They’ve gotten them during wartime, during recessions, during a pandemic – no matter what, they got them,” Biden said. “But now, for the first time ever, that might change. It would be calamity for millions of families, millions of people.”
Biden also referenced recent comments from Trump administration officials. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said last month that only people who are defrauding the Social Security system would call and complain if they did not receive their benefits. In February, Elon Musk, who has been tasked by President Donald Trump to run an initiative known as the Department of Government Efficiency, called Social Security “the biggest Ponzi scheme of all time.”
“What the hell are they talking about?” Biden said. “People earn these benefits. They paid into that benefit. They rely on that benefit, and no one, no one, no one should take it away.”
While Trump has repeatedly promised not to touch Social Security during his second term, critics have argued that Lutnick’s and Musk’s comments indicate the president may cut the entitlement program.
“You’ve got to ask yourself, why is this happening? Why are these guys taking aim at Social Security now? Well, they’re following that old line from tech startups. The quote is: move fast, break things. They’re certainly breaking things,” Biden said. “They’re shooting first and aiming later. The result is a lot of needless pain and sleepless nights.”
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