After billionaire Elon Musk called Minnesota Governor and former vice presidential candidate Tim Walz a "huge jerk" for openly celebrating Tesla's stock market tumble, Walz assured Musk he'd stop—but only if Musk takes his hands off Social Security benefits for millions of Americans.
Late last month, as news outlets reported that Tesla shares have plunged over 40% since January, wiping out the entire “Trump bump” that had temporarily driven the stock up more than 90% following Election Day, Walz said he added Tesla to the stock app on his phone to add a pick-me-up to his day.
Musk, whose fortune is largely tied to his Tesla holdings, has seen his personal net worth shrink by a staggering $121 billion in just three months.
And he was very sore about Walz's remarks, telling Fox News:
"The Tesla stock price had gone in half and he [Walz] was overjoyed. What an evil thing to do. What a creep. What a jerk."
Like, who derives joy from that? ... Does that sound like a good person to you? I don’t think so.”
You can hear what he said in the video below.
Shortly afterward, Walz responded to Musk's remarks with the following proposal that also referenced a chainsaw Musk brandished during February's CPAC conference, symbolizing DOGE's commitment to slashing federal budgets:
"Elon, I’ll make you a deal. I’ll stop making fun of your stock when you take your hands off social security."
"Surely a billionaire who sheds a tear for his own portfolio can understand our concern when he grins and raises a chainsaw to the people’s retirement plan."
You can see his post below.
Indeed, Musk sparked controversy last month by calling Social Security "the biggest Ponzi scheme of all time." Around the same time, President Donald Trump claimed in a joint address to Congress that his administration was investigating alleged widespread fraud in the Social Security program.
Trump stated that government databases list millions of beneficiaries at improbable ages, including individuals over 160 years old, and even claimed the rolls include one person aged 360, suggesting they would have been alive not long after the Mayflower arrived.
There is no evidence to support claims of hundreds of thousands of people over 100 collecting benefits illegally, and no one living in the U.S. is older than 116. In a February 19 statement, Lee Dudek, the acting SSA commissioner, clarified that people listed as over 100 in the system are "not necessarily receiving benefits" but are often individuals without a recorded date of death.
People loved Walz's response and joined him in criticizing Musk.
The pushback against Musk's plans for Social Security continues.
Michael Astrue, a former commissioner of the Social Security Administration, has criticized the Trump administration’s approach, calling its efforts misguided.
He warns that DOGE workers lack the necessary expertise in Social Security’s operations and are unfamiliar with Common Business-Oriented Language (COBOL), the 60-year-old coding system that the agency relies on. Some of these workers, he notes, may have never encountered COBOL before.
Despite these concerns, Astrue says Musk has "doubled down" rather than "admitting error." If the administration proceeds with its plans, Social Security could see mass layoffs, widespread office closures, and the implementation of stricter policies—including mandatory in-person identity checks—that may make it harder for older adults and disabled individuals to receive their benefits.
