Trump Commerce Secretary Calls SS Recipients “Fraudsters”
Trump Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick claimed only a “fraudster” would care if they miss a Social Security check
During an interview, Trump’s Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick called Social Security Recipients “Fraudsters” if they complain about missing a Social Security payment. Lutnick stated that missing a Social Security check for a month is no big deal and only someone committing fraud would complain.
“Let’s say Social Security didn’t send out their checks this months. My mother-in-law is 94, she wouldn’t call up and complain. She just wouldn’t. She would think something got messed up and she’d get it next month,” he said. “A fraudster always makes the loudest noise, screaming, yelling and complaining.” That is such BS and shows how out-of-touch with reality he is.
According various sources, Lutnick net worth is at least $2 Billion, so it’s no wonder why he can’t imagine or comprehend what it’s like to live from pay-check to pay-check.
In my opinion, Lutnick should be FIRED for making such an outrageous, insulting statement about the millions of seniors who worked their ASSES off for the Social Security payments they receive. It’s their money which they paid into the Social Security Trust Fund.
Also, if Lutnick’s mother-in-law is that well off that she isn’t dependent on Social Security, she shouldn’t be getting Social Security in the first place and should be remove as a SS recipient.
Eliminating SS payments to people like Lutnick’s mother-in-law who apparently doesn’t need it could save a lot of money, so that would be a good place for DOGE & Musk to make cuts.
IMO, the REAL Fraudsters are Trump appointees like Lutnick, who’s taking money from tax payers… giving NOTHING back in return (except insults) and doesn’t have a clue what it means to be a ‘Public Servant’.
Missed Social Security Checks should be nothing to complain about according to Trump’s Commerce Secretary, Howard Lutnick opining that missing a Social Security check for a month is no big deal and only someone committing fraud would complain about that. The remarks are only the latest in a series of dramatic moves by the Trump administration that show a lack of awareness or concern about the importance of regular Social Security checks to many Americans’ survival.
Kyle Kulinski calls MAGA Billionaire Howard Lutnick out in this video
Trump official doubts seniors would mind if their Social Security checks stopped
Trump Commerce Secretary says, “Let’s say Social Security didn’t send out their checks this month. My mother-in-law— who is 94—she wouldn’t call and complain. She just wouldn’t.” Rep. Suhas Subramanyam (D-VA) joins to discuss.
This is Trump’s Plan to Rip Away Your Benefits
Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick pummeled over Social Security ‘fraudster’ comments
Business and political leaders criticized Lutnick’s comments calling someone who would complain about a missed Social Security check a “fraudster.”
Per the above article: “Based on a fact sheet published by the Social Security Administration, more than 7 million Americans 65 and older receive at least 90% of their income from benefits checks. Social Security employees have been warning that the Trump administration’s plan to cut 7,000 SSA staff will result in delayed benefit checks and could extend the wait time by two to three times.
According to the Bloomberg Billionaire Index, Lutnick’s net worth was at least $2.2 billion as of February 2025.
Below are reactions to Lutnick’s comments from prominent business leaders, commentators, and political leaders. Howard Lutnick and the Department of Commerce did not respond to requests for comments.
Mark Cuban
In a post on Bluesky, Cuban reposted a screenshot of a news article about Lutnick’s comments on missed Social Security checks and asked, “Has Howard Lutnick done anything of value as Commerce Secretary?”
Martin O’Malley, former Maryland Governor and SSA Commissioner
“Social Security is a lifeline to millions of Americans,” O’Malley said Friday night on The Rachel Maddow Show. “40% of seniors living alone depend entirely on Social Security to keep themselves out of poverty.”
“The cavalier disregard, utter ignorance of how so many Americans live on a day-to-day basis, is stunning, is appalling, and is a cruel-heartedness at the center of our government that we’ve never seen before,” he added.
Randi Weingarten, President of the American Federation of Teachers
At the Hands Off Social Security rally in White Plains, New York, where the Trump administration is set to shutter a Social Security office, Weingarten, president of the second largest teacher’s labor union, began her speech by vowing that “the people will win” over Elon Musk and Lutnick.
“We didn’t vote for Elon Musk to call Social Security a Ponzi scheme,” she said. “We didn’t vote for Howard Lutnick to say, ‘Oh don’t worry, no elderly people, including my mother, would care if they don’t get their checks from Social Security.'”
Jim Clyburn, Congressman
In a post on X, Clyburn, representative of South Carolina’s 6th congressional district, wrote that “the billionaires in the Trump administration have no idea what it’s like to rely on Social Security earned through a lifetime of hard, honest work.”
The post also features a now-viral clip of Lutnick’s comments on the All-In Podcast, where show hosts Chamath Palihapitiya and David Friedberg did not directly dispute him on the spot.
Rachel Maddow
The longtime MSNBC host played a video of Lutnick’s Social Security comments on the All-In Podcast, and said it “is such a political disaster” she almost had to close her eyes because she “can’t bear to watch it.”
How does that comport with what you understand of the reality of getting a Social Security check, and who in your life you know gets a Social Security check?” she asked before playing Lutnick’s clip for the second time.
Chuck Schumer, Senate Minority Leader
Schumer reposted Lutnick’s now infamous clip from the All-In Podcast on X and called the Secretary of Commerce “an out-of-touch billionaire” who is “clueless or heartless.”
“Howard Lutnick does not understand what a missed Social Security check means to a senior on a fixed income,” he added.
