FACT CHECK: Dems, media claim Elon Musk wants to cut entitlements—he was talking about 'waste and fraud'

After Elon Musk appeared in an interview with Larry Kudlow and said that he would like to see the Trump administration cut out waste and fraud happening in the entitlements system in the US, Democrats and media pundits have spread the claim out of context that he is wanting to slash the programs in general.  

"The waste and fraud in entitlement spending—which is most of the federal spending is entitlements—that's like the big one to eliminate, that's the half trillion, maybe $600 to $700 billion a year," Musk said in an interview with Fox Business. He then went on to say that illegal immigrants can sometimes take advantage of using entitlements fraudulently.

Democrats and media pundits seized the quote out of its full context, claiming that Musk is looking to cut entitlements generally for Americans, when President Donald Trump has said he will not be touching Social Security, Medicaid, or other entitlement programs.

Bloomberg published the headline, "Musk said entitlements 'big one' to cut in Trump's DOGE push." The headline itself implies that Musk is looking to cut entitlements generally, not waste and fraud in the entitlements system.


This report was cited by Jake Sherman of Punchbowl News, who said the clip will be used in "countless Democratic TV ads over the next few years," but did not use the full context of the quote. Instead, he cut off the portion where Musk spoke about waste and fraud, and wrote only the portion of the quote where the Musk said, "....Most of the federal spending is entitlements—So that’s like the big one to eliminate."

The White House responded to Sherman, "Stop lying, Fake Sherman. He was clearly talking about the WASTE in the programs. Here’s the indisputable video."

Former Kamala HQ which has been rebranded to be "Fact Post" also posted about the clip without using the full context. The DNC-run social media account claimed, "Elon Musk says he wants to 'eliminate' programs like Social Security and Medicare: 'Entitlements... That’s the big one to eliminate.'"

However, in the clip that was posted by the account itself, Musk is clearly seen talking about "waste and fraud" in entitlement spending.

CNN also published a story on what Musk said, failing to quote Musk where he was talking about the "waste and fraud" in entitlement programs.

Left-wing pundit Brian Tyler Cohen also posted about the clip, and claimed, "Elon Musk just said he wants to cut Social Security and Medicare, calling them 'entitlements': 'That’s the big one to eliminate.'"

The White House Rapid Response account replied, saying, "Why did you completely leave out the fact that Elon said he wants to eliminate the over $500 billion of waste in entitlement spending? It's almost like the guy who calls himself 'No Lie' is one of the biggest liars on the internet."