Elon Musk falsely claimed there were tens of millions of people aged 100-159 still receiving Social Security benefits.

Social media users shared the claim in the form of a meme featuring a photo of Trump adviser Elon Musk holding a chainsaw.

The Trump administration is falsely claiming that tens of millions of dead people over 100 years old are receiving Social Security payments. Over the past few days, President

Trump is still repeating false claims started by Elon Musk about Social Security, saying there are 200 year olds in the system and implying they are getting benefits. That is not true, experts told ABC News.

While Americans should be greatly concerned about Elon Musk accessing their Social Security data, what could ultimately threaten monthly benefit checks would be efforts to reduce the

The Trump administration has put an "anti-fraud expert" temporarily in charge at the Social Security Administration, long a politically untouchable source of government spending, the White House confi

The rumors began when Elon Musk claimed that a significant number of Americans over the age of 100 were inappropriately receiving benefits. Musk and other DOGE

MSNBC's Joe Scarborough pummeled Elon Musk's claims about the federal budget and the sweeping cuts imposed by his Department of Government Efficiency. Donald Trump's billionaire benefactor and his DOGE workforce have gained access to Social Security databases and other government financial systems,

We did not find evidence that millions of implausibly old people receive Social Security payments. Recent Social Security Administration data shows that about 89,000 people ages 99 and older receive Social Security payments.

It is true that improper payments have been made—including some to dead people—but the claims thrown out by Elon Musk and Donald Trump are overstated.

Elon Musk recently stirred debate by suggesting that millions of deceased Americans are still receiving Social Security benefits. However, experts in public policy and economics argue that Musk's claims are based on a misunderstanding of the data.