Musk uses immigration, claims of voter fraud to sell Social Security cuts
Elon Musk has falsely claimed that undocumented immigrants are siphoning away billions of dollars worth of entitlements as part of a Democratic scheme for votes.
Elon Musk and the Trump administration are pitching cuts in one of the most politically dangerous arenas in America — the Social Security Administration.
Musk has cast the idea as one that’s primarily about immigration, falsely claiming that undocumented immigrants are fraudulently accessing hundreds of billions of dollars’ worth of entitlements, including Social Security, Medicaid and disability programs, as part of a Democratic scheme for votes.
“By using entitlements fraud, the Democrats have been able to attract and retain vast numbers of illegal immigrants,” Musk, the billionaire tech CEO behind the Department of Government Efficiency, said Monday on Sen. Ted Cruz’s podcast, without evidence. “And buy voters. Basically bring in 10, 20 million people who are beholden to the Democrats for government handouts and will vote overwhelmingly Democrat, as has been demonstrated in California.”
Musk told Cruz, R-Texas, that his efforts to end the alleged fraud are why people on the left “hate my guts and want me to die.” He said the fraud has cost the government $100 billion to $200 billion.
It’s an argument Musk has been making repeatedly in recent weeks, as DOGE and the Trump administration announce and push for more cuts to the SSA, including eliminating thousands of employees from the already lean agency, ending the ability to make claims by phone and shuttering dozens of field offices that help seniors access their benefits.
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