Noted retirement planning expert Whoopi Goldberg blasted former President Donald Trump on Tuesday over comments he recently made about the woeful mismanagement of the Social Security system.
Spoiler: Trump was right; the non-Mensa member co-host of ABC's "The View" was flat-out wrong.
Social Security benefit programs, which include retirement, medical, and disability benefits for qualified applicants, are indeed entitlement programs, meaning that employees, employers, and self-employed people who qualify are entitled to receive benefits.
Moreover, Social Security Income (SSI) is a transfer system, which means current workers pay SSI taxes that are put into special trust funds from which benefits are paid — as opposed to the incorrect belief by some that workers who contribute have their own Social Security retirement "accounts."
In other words, don't mess with me, Whoopi. I was a Certified Financial Planner for nearly 30 years — and my focus was retirement planning. Any questions?
Trump was asked during an interview on CNBC Monday whether he's considering changes to entitlement programs such as Medicare and Social Security if he wins the November election. He answered:
There is a lot you can do in terms of entitlement, in terms of cutting and in terms of also the theft and the bad management of entitlements. I know that they’re going to end up weakening Social Security because the country is weak.
While Trump probably shouldn't have used the third-rail word "cutting," his response was correct.
On CNBC this morning, Mr. Trump said: "There is a lot you can do in terms of entitlements in terms of cutting."
— Max (@MaxNordau) March 11, 2024
During the primary election, Mr. Trump vowed not to cut entitlements and lied about Ron DeSantis's position on cutting entitlements. pic.twitter.com/DO6LtEqnZS
Whoopi being Whoopi, she saw it differently, predictably losing her mind on her dopey show:
Yeah, we could put you in jail for all your entitlements. Social Security is not an entitlement. We paid for that!
Wrong, Whoopi. The "entitlement" part. As to the screwball, "We could put you in jail for all your entitlements" blast, I have no idea what the unhinged Ms. Goldberg was spewing about.
Speaking of spewing, self-admiring California Gov. Gavin Newsom was hammered on social media on Monday after posting a truncated clip of Trump's comments, shortening his quote to "There is a lot you can do in terms of entitlement, in terms of cutting—"
Here is Donald Trump himself telling the American people he will slash Social Security and Medicare.
— Gavin Newsom (@GavinNewsom) March 11, 2024
Remember this in November. pic.twitter.com/U3HkNrOj7O
Did I mention Gov. Hair Gel is as slippery as a snake?
Finally, it bears noting that Trump warned Republicans in January 2023 not to "destroy" federal retirement and health benefits as they tried to exact spending cuts from Joe Biden and congressional Democrats in the then-looming debate over the debt ceiling. The former president said in a two-minute video posted to social media:
Under no circumstances should Republicans vote to cut a single penny from Medicare or Social Security.
Whoopi and Hair Gel were unavailable for comment.
RELATED:
Join the conversation as a VIP Member