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OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author’s opinion.
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As Democrats hammer President Donald Trump, Department of Government Efficiency chief Elon Musk, and Republicans over their call to eliminate waste, fraud, and abuse in Medicare — as well as other government entitlement programs — videos of top Democrats calling for exactly the same thing during a 2010 hearing with then-President Barack Obama have resurfaced.
In one video, Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) insists that in order to keep Medicare solvent and providing “the good care we all want” for Americans, it was imperative to cut out the waste, fraud, and abuse.
“The real nub of this is how do we ring that waste out, that fraud, abuse, duplication — without interferring with the good care that we want every person on Medicare, Medicaid, and private insurance to get,” Schumer said.
Meanwhile, at the same hearing with Obama in attendance, then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said, “We cannot keep our promises on Medicare. We simply must make the cuts of waste, fraud, and abuse in Medicare so that the benefits and the premiums are untouched. We owe it to our seniors. We owe it to our country.”
WATCH:
Oh, look.
Here's Sen. Chuck Schumer in 2010 calling for eliminating 'waste, fraud, abuse' in Medicare – just like @elonmusk and @POTUS Trump are now.
Hint: If Schumer and Dems were successful back then in cutting waste, Trump and Musk wouldn't have to do it now. pic.twitter.com/XKnS3NR34I
— USA Features Media (@UsaFeatures) March 14, 2025
But now Democrats and their allies in the legacy media are apoplectic — and pushing false narratives — because Trump and Musk, as well as congressional Republicans, are pushing for reforms that would eliminate the same waste, fraud, and abuse Democrats identified and sought to target about a decade ago.
“Elon Musk pushed debunked theories about Social Security on Monday while describing federal benefit programs as rife with fraud, suggesting they will be a primary target in his crusade to reduce government spending,” The Associated Press, in a blatantly biased piece, reported earlier this week.
“Musk’s estimate for the level of fraud in entitlements far outpaces figures from watchdogs like Social Security’s inspector general, who previously said there was $71.8 billion in improper payments from fiscal years 2015 through 2022. That’s less than 1% of benefits paid out during that time period,” the AP report added.
Musk has estimated the figure to be much higher — around $500-$700 billion.
Musk also said there were “20 million people who are definitely dead marked as alive in the Social Security database.” But the AP was quick to include this caveat: “The leader of the agency has rejected claims about widespread payments to dead people.”
Former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg was among the Democrats who zeroed in on Musk’s comments about cracking down on fraud in federal benefit programs during an exclusive interview with FOX Business’ Larry Kudlow on Monday.
“There were howls of protest and denial from the GOP any time we pointed out that Republicans want to cut Social Security,” the former Biden administration official said in a post on X. “Now the most powerful official in the White House goes on TV and calls it ‘the big one to eliminate.’”
Other Democrats took issue with Musk’s responses as well and made similarly false claims.
“Musk said the quiet part out loud: he’s going after your Social Security and Medicare. Period,” Sen. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., wrote on X. “Mark my words. They will make you pay in every part of your life.”
Democrat podcast host Brian Tyler Cohen wrote, “Elon Musk just said he wants to cut Social Security and Medicare, calling them ‘entitlements’: ‘That’s the big one to eliminate.’”
The claims drew heated responses from the White House and its allies
Lying hacks. He was talking about waste, fraud, and abuse — of which there is $500+ billion every year.
This is why the Fake News is less popular than a root canal. All you do is LIE. https://t.co/izq6MqnpPG pic.twitter.com/JG0oFoPJNW
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) March 11, 2025
“Pete Buttigieg is Ivy League educated and allegedly smart. So can he not hear Elon say ‘waste and fraud in entitlement spending’ or is he lying to you?” wrote Alex Pfeiffer, deputy assistant to the president and principal deputy communications director.
“Lying hacks. He was talking about waste, fraud, and abuse — of which there is $500+ billion every year,” The White House Rapid Response team also countered on X.