Heated Debate: Martha MacCallum & Democratic Senator Brawl Over Elon Musk

Martha MacCallum of Fox News and Senator Chris Coons (D-DE) engaged in a heated discussion about Elon Musk and DOGE’s role at the Social Security Administration.

If Social Security has been run so well, why is it going to run out of money?

Sen. Coons: Martha, not only do I not believe some of what was just shared there, but the Trump administration’s acting administrator of Social Security has said that less than one-tenth of one percent of the payments put out by the Social Security Administration are fraudulent or in error. Let’s be clear about some of the things that were just played. There are people whose names are on the rolls as having been born 150 or 200 years ago. They’re not receiving Social Security payments. So the statement that there’s all these people…

Martha MacCallum: Sir, you sound like you’re pretty okay with all the agencies and how they function. You say all those millions of people depend on Social Security, so you don’t care about the ones that are going to never get it because it’s going to be insolvent in 10 years. What have Democrats done? What did Joe Biden’s administration do to find the waste, fraud, and abuse in Social Security to try to shore up this important agency? What did they do? Can you tell me?

Sen. Coons: Sure. First, Martha, you are presuming widespread waste, fraud, and abuse in Social Security. You haven’t offered any credible evidence to support that. I don’t believe what Doge says about virtually any federal agency, but I will believe what the GAO says or the Inspector General, or the Administrator of Social Security.

Martha MacCallum: Why? Can I ask you why?

Sen. Coons: Because I’ve had senior folks from DOGE lie to my face about other federal agencies where they claim they have found widespread waste, fraud, and abuse, where previous audits did not find that waste or abuse. This administration, Martha, fired the Inspector General of USAID when he filed complaints about the waste of huge amounts of food aid left rotting on docks. Rather than dealing with that fraud, they fired him.

Martha MacCallum: I’m amazed by… You’re saying that I’m assuming that there’s waste, fraud, and abuse. I think it’s equally surprising that you are assuming that the government is functioning in an efficient way when we all know—

Sen. Coons: That’s not what I said.

Sen. Coons: Martha, there are Inspectors General in every single agency that are there to find waste, fraud, and abuse.

Martha MacCallum: Oh, I know. They’ve done a fantastic bang-up job. When you look at the number—

Sen. Coons: To start the administration by firing all of them does not suggest a deep interest in listening to these career, non-partisan Inspectors General about waste.

Martha MacCallum: No, you can’t just put your fingers in your ear and go “blah, blah, blah—it’s not happening.” We all know that the government is not well run. The government is not well run.

Sen. Coons: That’s not at all what I’m doing, Martha. Let me repeat the point.

Sen. Coons: If Elon Musk says that Social Security is a Ponzi scheme, and this president has fired the relevant Inspectors General—who are the people most capable—not a bunch of 20-year-old software engineers with no previous government experience…

Martha MacCallum: They are most capable. These people—did you watch this interview, Senator? Did you watch the interview? Did you watch this? Did you watch the interview?

Sen. Coons: Which interview?

Martha MacCallum: The one I just played you from.

Sen. Coons: I don’t know what you’re talking about. You are yelling too much.

Martha MacCallum: No, I can’t because I can’t get a word in edgewise. I’m trying to ask you a question. That’s my job.

Coons did not address any of McCallum’s questions or offer solutions to strengthen Social Security. His response resembled a typical performance from a seasoned politician—full of denial, deflection, and confusion.