Former Social Security Commissioner Critiques Elon Musk's Fraud Claims
Former Social Security commissioner Martin O'Malley dismissed Elon Musk's claims of widespread fraud within the agency during an interview on CNN, describing them as unfounded and laughable.
Former Social Security commissioner Martin O'Malley called Elon Musk's allegations about the agency being rife with fraud laughable on "CNN News Central" Tuesday.
O'Malley, who served under President Biden from 2023 to 2024, addressed a report regarding acting SSA head Michelle King's resignation following disagreements with Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) over data access.
"Elon Musk has claimed that SSA is rife with fraud, suggesting that benefits are being paid to dead people, that millions and millions of dollars are going to waste," CNN host Boris Sanchez stated.
O'Malley laughed at the accusation, responding, "He has no idea what he's talking about. There is not like a zombie apocalypse of people, you know, cadavers running around with Social Security checks coming out of their pockets."
While admitting there are "outliers" due to the agency's size, he emphasized that fraudulent claims are not as rampant as suggested.
O'Malley pointed out, "Sometimes desperate people will try to hide the fact that grandma died, so they get a couple more checks," but stressed that it is more common for benefits to be mistakenly cut off.
He criticized Musk for making unsubstantiated claims and challenged him to provide evidence of the fraud he claimed.
Musk previously stated that over 20 million names in the Social Security database were over 100 years old, but did not specify how many still received benefits.
