In his first public remarks since leaving office, Joe Biden was sharply critical of the new administration for threatening social security, which he called a “sacred promise” that more than 70 million Americans rely on each month.
The former US President accused Donald Trump and his billionaire lieutenant, Elon Musk, of “taking a hatchet” to the social security administration as they moved at warp-speed to dismantle large swaths of the federal government.
He avoided any explicit mention of Trump – his predecessor and successor.
Addressing the national conference of Advocates, Counselors and Representatives for the Disabled in Chicago, Biden averred, “In fewer than 100 days, this new administration has done so much damage and so much destruction.” He added, “It’s kind of breathtaking that it could happen that soon.”
He said that Trump administration had applied the Silicon Valley concept of “move fast and break things” to the federal government.
“They’re certainly breaking things. They’re shooting first and aiming later.”
Donald Trump
Though it is unusual for a former President to return to the national stage so soon after exiting it, Biden, 82, said he felt the issue was a matter of grave importance to millions of retirees and disabled Americans fearful that the check they rely on each month might not arrive on time – or at all.
“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. But now for the first time ever, that might change. It’d be a calamity for millions of families.”
Donald Trump
Asked earlier about Biden’s speech, the White House Press Secretary, Karoline Leavitt mocked his age and acuity.
“I’m shocked that he is speaking at nighttime. I thought his bedtime was much earlier than his speech tonight.”
Karoline Leavitt
Biden also joked about his age, tweaking Trump for falsely claiming that millions of people born over a century ago are still receiving social security benefits. “I want to meet them because I’d like to figure out how they live that long,” he said.
Though Trump and Musk have both misleadingly pointed to the inclusion of people in the database with no recorded death date as evidence of widespread fraud, the glitch is well known and almost none of the people listed receive payments.
During Biden’s speech, he briefly reflected on the current state of affairs, urging Americans to uphold “fundamental American values.” “Nobody’s king,” he said, before lamenting how divided the nation had become.
Healing the “soul of America” was a campaign theme that elevated Biden to office in the depths of the pandemic in 2020, but the divisions seemed only to deepen over the next four years.
In an apparent aside, he said there was roughly “30%” of the country that “has no heart” – a remark Trump supporters immediately as interpreted an insult.
Social Security Agency Rebutts Biden’s Speech
In a series of tweets on X, the social media platform owned by Musk, the social security agency rebutted many of the points made in Biden’s speech, writing that the President has “repeatedly promised to protect social security and ensure higher-take home pay for seniors by ending taxation on social security benefits.”
Trump has pledged that his administration would not touch social security and congressional Republicans have accused Democrats of spreading lies about their support for the popular program.
Yet the Trump administration’s assault on the agency has left it in turmoil.
Since Musk’s cost-cutting initiative called the Department of Government Efficiency targeted the agency, it has announced plans for deep staff reductions and dozens of offices closures, while policy changes have already begun to impact the program’s operations, leaving many beneficiaries anxious.
In his remarks, Biden spoke of the “profound” psychological impact on beneficiaries who rely on the social security checks. “How do you sleep at night?” he said.
He also criticized Musk for calling the program a “Ponzi scheme.”
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