Biden warns of Trump’s 'Destruction', White House takes ‘bedtime jibe’

Former US President Joe Biden said Tuesday that the amount of damage the Trump administration has done to Social Security is "breathtaking." "Why are they doing this now?" Biden asked the audience at the the Disabled conference in Chicago. "Well, they're following that old line from tech startups. The quote is 'Move fast, break things. They're certainly breaking things."  The 82-year-old Democrat accused Donald Trump of inflicting deep damage on a critical safety net relied upon by more than 70 million Americans. “In fewer than 100 days, this new administration has done so much damage and so much destruction. It's kind of breathtaking,” Biden told the audience.

Former President Biden: "Look what's happened now, fewer than 100 days into this new administration has done so much damage and so much destruction. It is kind of breathtaking it could happen that soon." pic.twitter.com/UrggjUWvQJ

— CSPAN (@cspan) April 15, 2025

In an unusual move, the Social Security Administration responded directly to Biden’s comments on its official X account, saying: “Former President Joe Biden is lying to Americans.”

Former President Joe Biden is lying to Americans.

Here are the facts:

President Trump has repeatedly promised to protect Social Security and ensure higher-take home pay for seniors by ending taxation on Social Security benefits.

— Social Security (@SocialSecurity) April 15, 2025

Biden marked his first major public speech since he left office in January, following his failed reelection campaign.Trump and billionaire Elon Musk have slashed 7,000 Social Security Administration jobs over the past few months in their efforts to cut down the federal workforce as part of the new Department of Government Efficiency, moves that Democrats have vigorously rallied against.
Taking a swipe at the former president’s age and stamina, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt commented on Biden’s nighttime speech. “I’m shocked that he is speaking at nighttime,” she said during the day’s briefing. “I thought his bedtime was much earlier than his speech tonight,” AP quoted Leavitt. Leavitt also pointed to a new memorandum Donald Trump signed on Tuesday, aimed at cracking down on Social Security fraud, a directive which will extend the agency’s fraud prosecutor programme to at least 50 US attorney offices and establish new Medicare and Medicaid fraud teams in 15 more.