Former US President Joe Biden, who demitted the presidential office in January, has hit out at his successor President Donald Trump in his first major speech since leaving the White House in January, where he defended the Social Security Administration as the US government is cutting its staff and shutting down some of its offices.
The 82-year-old Democrat, who has largely avoided speaking publicly since exiting the office in January, addressed the audience at the national conference of Advocates, Counselors and Representatives for the Disabled in Chicago on Tuesday.
The timing of the major re-emergence of Biden onto America’s political landscape appears to be appropriate as Trump’s adviser billionaire Elon Musk, while leading the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has been on a massive cut spree to the federal workforce.
BREAKING NEWS: A fiery Joe Biden delivers the first speech since leaving office and he calls for DIGNITY for every single person who lives in this country. “It’s who we are as Americans. That’s what it’s about.” I miss him. pic.twitter.com/m9zjwmQm9f
— CALL TO ACTIVISM (@CalltoActivism) April 15, 2025
While calling Social Security more than a government program, Biden said “This new administration has done so much damage and so much destruction.” He added that the Trump administration has “taken a hatchet” to the agency.
The Social Security Administration pays about $1.4 trillion in benefits to around 73 million elderly and disabled Americans annually, a Reuters report stated. And Trump had said in his election campaign that he wouldn’t touch social security if he returned to office.
“It’s a sacred promise we made as a nation. We know just how much Social Security matters to people’s lives,” Biden said.
The DOGE team members have pledged to cut short 7,000 jobs in the social security agency and even shut down some offices.
“President Trump is absolutely certain about protecting Social Security benefits for law-abiding tax-paying American citizens and seniors who have paid into this program. He will always protect that program,” Trump’s press secretary Karoline Leavitt said ahead of Biden’s speech.
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