“Do not buy into the lies from the legacy fake news media,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said Monday, reassuring Americans that the new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) isn’t a threat to their Social Security benefits.
“I’ve been fighting fake news reporters all day long here in the Washington, DC swamp who are trying to fearmonger the American people into believing that this administration is going after their hard-earned tax dollars and their hard-earned Social Security checks,” Leavitt said in an interview with Fox News Channel Host Sean Hannity.
Press Sec. Leavitt then proceeded to “set the record straight” about the real reason DOGE is scrutinizing the Social Security Administration:
“President Trump has directed Elon Musk and the DOGE team to identify fraud at the Social Security Administration. They haven’t dug into the books yet, but they suspect that there are tens of millions of deceased people who are receiving fraudulent Social Security payments.”
“And so, their goal in going into the Social Security Administration is to identify three things,” Leavitt said:
“Number one: to identify duplicate payments and to end them.
“Number two: to identify payments that are going to deceased people who are no longer living and should no longer be receiving that money.
“And number three: to protect the integrity of the system for hard-working Americans who have been paying into it their entire lives.”
“So, rest assured, to all of the people watching your show tonight: if you paid into the system honesty, you will continue to receive your Social Security checks,” Leavitt said.
The false claims about DOGE and Social Security are just the latest of the lies the media have been hammering Americans with for years in their efforts to smear Trump, Leavitt explained:
“Do not buy into the lies from the legacy fake news media who are trying to fear you and scare you into believing otherwise.
“This is what we’ve seen them do about President Trump for years with every promise that he has made and he’s going in there to protect your hard-earned money.
“That is the ultimate goal.”
.@PressSec: “President Trump has directed Elon Musk and the DOGE team to identify fraud at the Social Security Administration… They suspect that there are tens of millions of deceased people receiving fraudulent Social Security payments.” pic.twitter.com/uRkCUTwbQD
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) February 18, 2025