NEWSWEEK
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis recently voiced his suspicion that many Social Security beneficiaries on disability might be defrauding the program with “fake” claims.
While speaking at an event in Iowa on Sunday, where the Republican governor has staked his presidential ambitions, DeSantis was asked by a member of the audience about the distressing conditions faced by many individuals on disability, some of whom are at risk of suicide.
DeSantis said he has sympathy for people with disabilities, but differentiated between Social Security beneficiaries whom he deems have legitimate claims and those with “fake” disabilities who could work instead of receiving benefits.
“In terms of disability, you know, you can be disabled partially and maybe its good if you want to maybe work and earn some income, but I think it’s a fine line of some people who would kind of fake being disabled, then work,” DeSantis said, during the town hall event in Grimes, Iowa.
“I do think that if somebody has a disability and it prevents them from reaching their full potential and they’re eligible [for Social Security benefits], fine,” he added. “But if, then they can do some type of employment that could supplement, you know, I don’t think that that would be a bad thing and I think that’s a good incentive.”
DeSantis shared a video of the entire speaking engagement in Grimes on X, formerly known as Twitter, the same platform he used to announce his presidential bid last year.
The presidential hopeful also said “there’s a lot of fraud in the program” and he thinks that’s been “a huge issue” for Social Security, with many exploiting the program.
“I remember seeing instances where people were getting, you know, kind of top of the line as much disability as possible and then someone would get suspicious. They look. This guy is like, you know, a roofer like, he’s doing all right. Well, I mean, either you’re disabled or you’re not. So there has been a big problem with fraud,” he said.
