Research/Study
MAGA media endorse Trump’s Social Security giveaway to the rich
Trump proposed ending taxes on Social Security benefits, which would only help higher-income seniors while harming the funding for both Social Security and Medicare
Published
Pro-Trump pundits, activists, and social media personalities endorsed an idea Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump posted to social media to eliminate taxes on Social Security benefits, calling it a good policy, a savvy political move, or both.
But economists explained that such a policy would primarily benefit the most wealthy seniors and provide no benefit to about half of Social Security beneficiaries, given that taxes on Social Security are progressive in nature and higher-earning seniors pay more. They also pointed out that Trump’s idea would seriously harm the funding for both Social Security and Medicare, as these taxes feed into those programs’ trust funds, and noted that it would add roughly $1.8 trillion to deficits over the next decade.