During a Monday appearance on Sen. Ted Cruz’s podcast, billionaire Trump advisor Elon Musk claimed without supporting evidence that federal agencies give undocumented immigrants tens of billions in fraudulent entitlement benefits to buy their votes.
In an interview conducted at the White House, the Tesla and SpaceX chief alleged that progressives hate his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) because it will soon root out a wide-ranging conspiracy that flows benefits to people in the country illegally.
“The single biggest thing they’re worried about is that DOGE is going to turn off fraudulent payments of entitlements — I mean, everything from social security, Medicare, you know, unemployment, disability, Small Business Administration loans — turn them off to illegals,” Musk said. “This is the crux of the matter.”
At which point, Cruz, a Texas Republican, can be heard agreeing: “Yep, yep, yep, yep!”
“This is the crux of the matter,” Musk continued. “OK, this is the thing why they really hate my guts and want me to die.”
During the 30-minute talk, Cruz repeatedly agreed with Musk’s assertions and never asked him to provide evidence to back even his most bizarre claims, including his statement that DOGE unearthed “magic money computers” at federal agencies that “make money out of thin air.”
Indeed, Cruz even tweeted out a link to the portion of the conversation where Musk claims federal agencies are illegally giving benefits to noncitizens. What’s more, the senator appeared to stake his own claim on the conspiracy.
“@ElonMusk breaks down what I have been saying for years,” Cruz said in the tweet. “The Democrats are trying to tip the scales by allowing millions of illegal aliens into the United States with the hope that each one will be a future Democrat voter.”
During the conversation, Cruz asked Musk how much in fraudulent benefits the government is handing out to people in the country illegally. Undocumented immigrants do not receive most federal benefits, including Social Security and Medicare, and many pay into the programs without ever receiving benefits.
“Do you think that’s billions, hundreds of billions?” Cruz asked. “What do you think the scale is of that?”
“I think across the country, it’s well over $100 billion, maybe $200 billion,” Musk continued, offering no support for where he got his numbers. “So, by using entitlement fraud, Democrats have been able to attract and retain vast numbers of illegal immigrants.”
“And buy voters,” Cruz adds.
The allegation that Democrats opened the floodgates for illegal immigration is not only untrue — the Biden White House deported millions — but it echoes the Great Replacement Theory, a once-fringe racist claim that shadowy operatives seek to outnumber and overpower white people through unchecked immigration.
Musk has repeatedly used the social media platform X, which he owns to trumpet his support for right-wing strongmen in other countries, and he recently drew criticism for backing Germany’s far-right, anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany party. He also delivered two stiff-armed gestures at Trump’s inauguration, which were widely read as Nazi salutes.
During Monday’s interview, Musk claimed the Democrats were behind a shadowy conspiracy to open the border to “I don’t know, 10, 20 million people” who would be beholden to the party doling out their phony benefits and therefore would do anything to see them elected.
Cruz offered no pushback on the claim.
“The Dems will win all the swing states — it’s just a matter of time — and America will be a permanent, deep-blue socialist state,” Musk said.
Subscribe to SA Current newsletters.
Follow us: Apple News | Google News | NewsBreak | Reddit | Instagram | Facebook | Twitter| Or sign up for our RSS Feed
Related Stories
Sen. Ted Cruz falsely claims ‘thousands’ of Americans died building the Panama Canal
U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz blames Ivy League indoctrination for healthcare CEO’s killing
San Antonio State Sen. Roland Gutierrez tells Musk and friends to shove Nazi salute ‘up your ass’
Resale value of Tesla cars sliding into toilet, both in San Antonio and nationwide
Police called to remove ‘incendiary’ devices found at Austin Tesla dealership
MAGA diehard Ted Cruz breaks with Trump on tariffs as markets continue to plummet
Texas AARP says DOGE’s Social Security job cuts creating anxiety, chaos as retirees seek help
Social Security drops DOGE-imposed April 14 deadline to stop taking benefits applications via phone
San Antonio companies and nonprofits lost $375 million due to cuts made by Elon Musk’s DOGE
Elon Musk’s Austin neighbors are reportedly sick of him
This article appears in Mar 5-18, 2025.
