Former Social Security Commissioner Martin O’Malley is touring the country to push back against what he calls the Trump administration’s “big lies” and misinformation undermining the earned benefits program.
In a town hall meeting in Cleveland on Friday, O’Malley accused the federal government of “moving fast” to “wreck the reputation” of the Social Security Administration by peddling “big lies” about fraud, waste and abuse. “They’re also quickly wrecking its ability to serve the public,” he added, citing major cuts to agency staffing in recent months.
O’Malley criticized Elon Musk, the tech billionaire who is one of President Donald Trump’s top advisers, for falsely claiming tens of millions of dead people are receiving Social Security checks.
“There is no zombie apocalypse,” he told the crowd, adding that Musk and Trump were mounting a “grave assault” on the program.
Apart from Ohio, O’Malley has made recent appearances in Kansas City, Missouri; Fort Lauderdale, Florida; and Racine, Wisconsin, appearing before hundreds of audience members and alongside local Democratic House members or state progressive groups. He’s also given interviews to local TV stations and national outlets, including Rolling Stone.
Apart from rebutting claims about Social Security, O’Malley has also argued that the Trump administration is using cuts to staffing and other changes to undermine the program in preparation for drastic cuts to benefits or an alternative, such as private savings accounts long touted by conservatives.
O’Malley also called for lifting the cap on taxable income under Social Security. Currently, earnings above $176,100 are not subject to Social Security taxes, which means Musk hit the cap in just the first few minutes of the year. According to Peter G. Peterson Foundation, a nonpartisan research group focused on reducing the national debt, eliminating the cap on earnings would raise $3.2 trillion over 10 years, which would keep the Social Security trust fund solvent for decades longer. O’Malley was mayor of Baltimore before serving two terms as Maryland governor. He ran unsuccessfully for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2016. He later served as head of the Social Security Administration under President Joe Biden. Subscribe here to receive weekly updates on and expert insight into the key issues and figures defining Trump’s second term.
Ryan Teague Beckwith is a newsletter editor for MS NOW.
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