Trump promised not to cut Social Security; now Trump supporters will suffer as he guts Social Security
Trump is about to betray millions of his own supporters — and millions of innocent bystanders along with them
“For the very last time, bitch, Trump's not gonna touch Social Security!”
I often think about this particular death threat. Sure, it was also notable for its shameless homophobic and misogynistic slurs, generic GOP talking points and repeated wishes to commit violence (a choice sample: “I'd dearly love to cut you a 2nd anus… this time in your face, where i'll [sic] do better cosmetic & scientific duty”). More than anything, though, I’m struck by what provoked “Gordon Scott” (not the Trump troll’s real name) to spew more than 300 words of pure bile:
He trusted Trump’s promise to not cut Social Security. I’d written an article for Salon Magazine pointing out Trump seemed to be lying.
I immediately reported this troll to law enforcement, who to their credit took this very seriously and followed up with the culprit. Yet if this individual relies on Social Security, then he will join 73 million other Americans — or more than out out of five of America’s 341 million-plus souls — then Trump himself is likely to punish him without any help from his own loose lips. By slashing benefits by dishonestly claiming they are “fraud,” laying off thousands of workers, pushing out key leaders, creating burdensome new rules for beneficiaries and canceling important research, Trump is endangering the future of Social Security.
Martin O’Malley should know. He served as Commissioner of Social Security under Joe Biden for the last year of that president’s term, as well as served as governor of Maryland for two terms.
“I can tell you operationally what they're doing, and I can tell you from a customer service perspective, what impact those decisions will have on the program,” O’Malley said. “What I can't tell you is why they are actually doing this.”
While O’Malley cannot state with certainty why Trump is doing this, however, he has spoken with members of Congress about the subject. They certainly have theories.
“Every member of Congress has told me clearly what they're after is the $2.6 trillion surplus, because it's the only agency that runs the surplus,” O’Malley said. On Monday O’Malley challenged Elon Musk, the head of Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), to a “debate about Social Security and his destruction of it.” It is doubtful that Musk, who is not known for his strong debate skills, will ever pick up the gauntlet tossed down by O’Malley. Given that he is lying over and over again about Social Security, his cowardice is a very big deal.
“The impact of the lies that they're telling about the agency being riddled with fraud, about it being bloated, wasteful, inefficient, are totally contrary to the facts,” O’Malley said. “The program has an incidence of fraud that is less than one quarter of 1%. It operates on less than 1% overhead for benefits paid. Allstate is 19% by that metric, and Liberty Mutual is 23% by that metric.” If the lies told by Trump and Musk were true, there would be “an apocalypse of dead people, 20 million of them, the size of the population of New York, anywhere between 150 and 300 years old, all taking our checks.”
Simply put, “That doesn't happen. It's not true.” Nevertheless, Trump and the other MAGA leaders “can't get that $2.6 trillion surplus until they turn off the public against what they know is one of the most popular, if not, but probably the most popular program in America.”
With any luck, the American public will wake up to this threat before it’s too late. Regardless of whether or not that happens, though, we must always remember the Trump supporters who insisted he was telling the truth about protecting Social Security.
If we don’t, they’ll surely do their best to forget.
Back Seat Socialism
Column by Matthew Rozsa who is a professional journalist for more than 13 years. Currently he is writing a book for Beacon Press, "Neurosocialism," which argues that autistic people like the author struggle under capitalism, and explains how neurosocialism - the distinct anticapitalist perspective one develops by living as a neurodiverse individual - can be an important organizing principle for the left.
Twitter (X) @MatthewWRozsa