President Trump’s U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, who became a billionaire as CEO of investment company Cantor Fitzgerald, appeared on the “All-In” podcast this week and said the federal government doesn’t “have to take one penny from someone who deserves Social Security, not one penny for someone who deserves Medicaid, Medicare.”
Lutnick added his support of Trump’s directive to Elon Musk (who called Social Security a “Ponzi scheme”) and his DOGE team to weed out those who receive benefits “who’s not hurt, who’s on disability for 50 years…and have another job.”
all-in takes dc part 2!@chamath and @friedberg sit down with @CommerceGov secretary @howardlutnick for another long-form interview
— insights from running trump’s transition team
— creating @DOGE with @elonmusk
— fixing gdp
— tariff strategy
— how to sell 1m+… pic.twitter.com/mfmCdxhQvG
— The All-In Podcast (@theallinpod) March 20, 2025
Lutnick also said that if Social Security “didn’t send out their checks this month,” his “mother-in-law, who’s 94, she wouldn’t call and complain. She’d think something got messed up, and she’ll get it next month. A fraudster always makes the loudest noise, screaming, yelling and complaining.”
Lutnick’s description of a fraudster making “the loudest noise, screaming, yelling and complaining” has not been lost on Democrats who are quick to remind their constituents that Trump’s company was found to have committed tax fraud in 2022.
“A fraudster always makes the loudest noise, screaming, yelling and complaining.” pic.twitter.com/GMFKctNTAt
— The Intellectualist (@highbrow_nobrow) March 22, 2025
Lutnick added: “Anybody who’s been in the payment system and the processes, who knows the easiest way to find the fraudster is to stop payments and listen, because whoever screams is the one stealing,” he said.
“Because my mother-in-law’s not calling, come on, your mother, 80-year-olds, 90-year-olds, they trust the government.”
Note: The Trump administration has been criticized for spreading false claims about the amount of fraud actually found in the program. Lutnick’s comments, critics are quick to point out, also don’t consider the majority of elderly who live from one Social Security check to the next.
According to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, “Without Social Security benefits, nearly 4 in 10 adults aged 65 and older would have incomes below the official poverty line, all else being equal, according to our estimates based on the U.S. Census Bureau’s March 2023 Current Population Survey. Social Security benefits lift more than 16.5 million older adults above the official poverty line, these estimates show.”
Note: On Thursday, Lutnick, 63, said he is against raising the retirement age and said: “I find it disgusting when we’re the richest country in the world, and some politician says in order to save Social Security, rather than getting rid of the waste, fraud and abuse, we should move it to 70.”