You know, my buddy Chris Cuomo has been on News Nation all week long discussing Elon Musk in the Department of Government Efficiency, a subject that has spurren a lot of debate nationwide. He started by breaking down some falsehoods regarding claims about USAID.
Take a listen to this, please.
Did USAID send two million to Guatemala for sex change surgeries?
No?
First, they only got three hundred and fifty grand and the money went for a lot more than surgery.
We help poor countries.
Is that now bad? And if you say yeah, America first, why do you think we do it?
If we stop?
Do you really believe that.
What goes bad there doesn't affect us here?
Here's a hint.
Most migrants are leaving what distressed places less distressed there. Let's need to come here. Okay, So you look at the next one fifty five million to strengthen Libya's whatever financial Did we do that?
Yeah?
But why didn't mass tell you the project started during the Trump administration?
Why would he leave that out? He want you to get angry.
About something, but not blame the guy who did it.
Same thing with complaining about money for tourism in Egypt. Trump did it. So if it's so stupid, is in Trump the stupid one? Or does he really believe you.
Are because he doesn't think you're gonna check? How about that? How about that?
The latest flash point in the slashing of government entities surround Social Security, who's getting paid and whether or not some recipients may be long gone from this earth.
Clomo had something to say about that as well.
Take a listen, and now he's claiming massive fraud at Social Security Administration.
Now this program matters, but.
Not to him because he's already botching it. In favor of heat over Light, he shared this screenshot. All the MAGA and the pod bros with their ski caps and their big cans on their head went crazy.
Look at this.
Millions of people above the age of one hundred are receiving Social Security.
This is the.
Biggest fraud ever. This was to back up the claim in the Oval Office that many people receiving Social Security are falsely aged one hundred and fifty years old.
What a scam? So stupid? How did we miss it?
Because it's bs We did some basic research and once again, the situation with Social Security is not what mister Musk suggests Social Security uses this antiquated computer language called cobal cobol. Now on that system, if a birthdate is missing, it automatically codes for May twenty, eighteen seventy five. Why this whole story that goes with it, But that's the answer. Eighteen seventy five is one hundred and fifty years ago. I thought he had these genius coders. They didn't know that?
Or is he just.
Guessing that you wouldn't know that and you wouldn't find out.
Again, it's the ladder. It's the ladder.
It's an accusation on my part because I'm not inside the head of Elon Musk, but certainly that clearly appears to be the case. The reality is is that when you look at the Department of Government agency, I don't have a problem with it in theory. I have a problem with who's been put in place to oversee it. First of all, Elon Musk isn't a government employee. He's basically a consultant to the president. He isn't somebody that needed to be confirmed by the Senate or anything like that.
He's not receiving a check. So essentially he gets to operate with relative impunity. Now, of course, the President Donald Trump has said on the record, I will be watching him, I will be supervising him. Trust me, trust me, trust me, and the cult like following that he has clearly people are going to do that because their mentality is is that he's the president of the United States's the forty
seven president of the United States of America. He wanted a fair and square election rather convincingly, regardless of what the Democrats want to say about it was the only forty nine point eight percent of the forty eight point three percent demity won convincingly, and he has a mandate, even though they want to try to say he doesn't
have a mandate. When you win all the swing states, when you improve in democratic graphics like the blacks, the Latinos, the young voters, when you've upgraded in fifty counties for crying out loud, no, you've won convincingly.
That's what it is.
And because he has that trust, he's able to get away with saying that for now. But when you see the kind of latitude that Elon Musk has at his disposal, when you see the access to private information that ultimately he is going to get at least purportedly.
So it does make you a bit nervous.
It really really does not to mention the fact that some of the stuff that he has said is not true, as Chris Wolmore pointed out, So security not true, Guatemalia that surgeries and not true, Tounisia not true? What else is not true? I don't know how much money was legitimately wasted. I want to know the answer to that question. Not only do I want to know how much money has been wasted, I want to know who wasted it, who appropriated those funds to certain places? Was it legit,
was it excessive? What money is missing? How much is missing? Where did it go?
I want to know all of that. That's just me.
That's how I feel about it. And all I'm gonna tell you is is that again. I'm gonna remind you I'm a registered independent. I'm gonna remind you. You've seen Joshapiro on this show. Governor Philid Pennsylvania. You've seen Wes Moore on this show, Governor of Maryland. You've seen Eric Adams on this show. Mayor of New York. You said, but you've also seen Byron Donald on this show. You've seen Sean Hannity on this show. Megan Kelly is invited on you show, Marco Rubio is invited on this show.
I'm gonna give you the names of the people. I'll personally want Megan Kelly, Marco Rubio, Pete Haig Seth jd Vance, Vice President jd Vance, Senator Ted Cruz because I've always wanted to talk to him, Senator Lindsey Graham as well. I like Lindsey Graham sometimes, and of course the President himself, Donald Trump. I'm not really that interested in talking to Elon Musk. Let him do what he does. I'm talking about the elected officials, the people that the American people
chose or elected officials confirmed. Talk about those dudes. That's what I want to see. That's why I want to talk to I don't want anybody to think for one second that you're watching this show and all you want to see is liberals, Democrats, etc. Bill O'Reilly's been on this show. He's coming back on. I want to Andrew Cormo on this show too. In light of the charges being dropped by the DOJ forcing the Southern District of New York to drop those charges against Eric Adams, I
want him back on. Nobody's running, nobody's hiding, but nobody's gonna be unfair either. But this stuff, the Department of Government efficiency, that's not very efficient when you look at what Chris Cormore pointed out, it's not very efficient at all. And since this man is so brilliant and being utilized by a president because of his brilliants, I don't expect mistakes, which means, if they are one, are you as efficient as the president claimed?
And if you're not, if that's not it, will you purposefully purposefully or purposely disingenuous? Just a legitimate question.
Joining me now to discuss all of this and to try to provide some clarity is none other than the man, the myth, the legend himself, my brother, the.
One and only, Chris Cuomo. What's going on?
Big Time? How are you? Stephen A? Is one of one.
It's good to see you, man, It's good to see you. I can't say enough about how much I appreciate. And I played the sound of you, the footage of you talking on your show Cuoma on News Nation every weeknight at eight pm easton Standard time. I played the clip of you talking about Doge and talking about social security, talking about supposed gender surgeries and Guatemalia and all of
this other stuff. As you sit back and reflect to zero in on DOGE itself, why did you feel the need to do so, and what have you gathered from your research about the Department of Government efficiency.
So let's start with what should be obvious. Everybody should be in favor of finding waste fraud and abuse. And the idea that I'm inclined or anyone be inclined to be against the effort reeks of partisan politics.
So of course this is great.
And nobody has ever failed to find waste fraud and abuse different name, different ways, every administration, Reagan, Clinton, Obama, everybody has let's find waste fraud and abuse, and they.
Have found it.
Every time government is huge, mistakes are going to be made, Intentional errors are going to be made. Those does not bother me as an effort doesn't bother me that they're using an outsider bothers me a little bit that they keep being wrong about things, And it starts to smell like they are intentionally trying to get people to think that everything government does sucks and that is irresponsible, And
it feels like more heat than light. And if the reason we're bringing on in Elon instead of having Congress do it is because he's better at it, why does he keep.
Getting it wrong?
And now they say they're going to give out a five thousand dollars diffidend by giving us twenty percent of two trillion dollars or whatever the number is. They don't know what the number is. I thought this was about getting the deficit down. Now they're saying they're going to give us checks. It reeks of overpromising and setting up and under delivery. So that's my angle on it. Efficiencies
are good, finding waste fraud abuse great. The fact that Trump is doing it, so what it's not bad just because he's doing it or Elon Musk is doing it, But how they do it matters.
And all this hype stephen A it bothers me.
What do you think the intent is?
Assuming that they're getting these things wrong and they're doing it purposefully, they're being disingenuous about it.
What could possibly be the.
Benefit from doing that? Is that painting the the government as corrupt because it will facilitate Trump's agenda down the line leading into the midterms.
What could it be.
Yeah, I think that's it. Musk hates government. He has said it many, many times, many different ways.
He has obvious personal incentive to pretend that there's a better way than our government. And you know, you got to read the disconnect between the Musk and the Oval Office, who Steven.
I was very impressed by.
We talked about it a little bit in private that I thought he was really good. I thought it was bad for him because I thought he outshined the president and you know what happens when we do that. But the difference between him there and on Twitter, I mean, he's just like you know, just in the amplification of absurdity business on Twitter. And I don't believe he can be this wrong this often. So I think it's intentional. And the responses always give them time, Give them time.
It's not about time. Telling the truth, isn't about time. Showing receipts of what you say you found, isn't about time. You can do it in real time. I'm not coming after them about the price economy. I know two and three people think he should spend more time on it. I know that people are worried that prices are going the wrong way. I know that he promised something that
he didn't deliver, which was quick change. I'm not chasing him on that because I knew he was fos when he said it during the campaign, because I knew it would take time.
And we'll see what his policies do.
He hasn't even had a budget in yet, so I'm being reasonable about it. But what they can do right now, they should do right now, and that's showing receipts. Let me see where these dividend checks are going to come from. I don't buy it.
How concerned are you by the Democrats reaction on Capitol Hill?
We saw of protest.
We saw people being a bit vociferous, to say the least, and saying some things that I didn't think was the most advisable thing to say. I think they came across as people that was still campaigning, as opposed to recognizing this is the new power and office.
Y'all lost.
There's a different mandate and you got to accept that and might be and might be inclined to act a little bit differently, but that's not what transpired. How do you feel about what you've seen from the humans of the world and others on Capitol Hill.
I can't put it any better than that they're still in campaign mode.
Sounds right.
It seems like anything that Trump or Musk does they have to condemn, and they have to condemn it on the basis of the people personally. Trump is a Nazi, Musk has apartheid roots, And to me, it just proves they haven't learned their lesson yet that they should be in a better idea business. And they do seem like they're defending the status quo. They're just defending the establishment, and I don't think that's where you want to be right now.
You want to be in the business.
Is better, and they seem like they're still in the business of painting the other side as worse. And a little of it that sounds like semantics or rhetorical device, but I don't think it is. I think it reads to people as Listen, I don't like the guy either, or maybe I do, but either way, it doesn't matter. I just want stuff to get better for me and my family. Are you about that or you just about comparative advantage over the other side, And they have to
find a better answer to that question. And you know, there's a lot of this going on over. There's a lot of hand ringing going on on the left, and to me, that's almost like masturbatory. You know, it's not really about getting them to a better place. When they are at their best, Democrats, they are speaking to the masses with dynamic messengers who are taking on the hard work of showing that things can be more light than dark.
The Republicans starting with the you Know in our Lifetime the Contract with America nineteen ninety three for Nu Gingrich him saying that Republicans need to learn how to get mean, and they took toughness as an advantage and it has worked well for them.
The Democrats are not going to win a bully contest.
They're not going to win a tough guide contest, and they shouldn't want them. They should be in the business of better You want to find efficiencies, awesome. If I were they, I'd say, can't wait for the dividend check where are you getting it from?
Because we have some ideas. You say you're going to find two trillion dollars.
I think you got to get rid of the DOJ, the Department of Education, and a huge chunk out of Medicare Medicaid and a twenty five percent decreased in social Security contributions back to the people who paid in to reach that number.
Is that your plan?
That's what they should be doing, but that's not what they're doing.
So you're right to call it out.
Is it possible based off of what you just explained, that that's why the false information is being put out there by Musk to some degree and obviously Donald Trump, who says that he's watching him personally, because I'm thinking, if this is the kind of thing that can spark outrage from the Democrats, right, then you get the Democrats to act that way, and then you're able to say, see, look at them, same o, same o. They just don't
get it. And they're probably acting this way because we're noticing the kind of corruption that was taking place on this side while they were running this country.
Is it possible that that's the incentive behind all of this.
I don't think it's possible. I think it's probable. The last part.
I mean, look, doesn't it sound like that to you? Doesn't it sound how like everything they find is kind of on the Democrats? I mean, you know, one of the interesting points of analysis that we've done, and I'm telling you. Look, I have a team, and on my own enterprising I can dig very deep into things with sources and research.
I have not had to do.
That here To find that some of the things that they're calling out as waste or crazy or whatever adjective you want to put on it started under Trump and they're just ignoring it. Shows you what this is really about is that it's about blaming Democrats for the status quo, and I think the Democrats are playing right into it, and.
You go ahead, go ahead. I'm sorry, go ahead.
I just feel like AOC is the crystallization of this for me. And again I'm not anti AOC. I respect her pursuit of passion. I respect that she's built this big platform for herself. I think she's got a lot more rich than residence. Meaning I don't know that what she says matters as much as the number of her following. But I think she's kind of the poster boy right now for handling this the wrong way.
And why what specifically has she done when you mentioned her handling it the wrong way?
She seems to be an apologist for the set quo.
And everything with her is personal musk is dumb, Trump's an asshole, you know whatever it is. It's like all like you're talking about somebody at a fraternity party, you know, as opposed to being a leader and having a better way and showing that you have better ideas. Proving that Elon and Musk are imperfect is going to be easy.
The problem is nobody thinks you're perfect either.
And in fact, as you said, and I got to tell you, I said it the time, I said it repeatedly on TV off TV Man, did you nail it on Bill Maher's show by saying that not only did they get beaten by a guy who's one of the most unpopular politicians in modern history, but the Democrats have to wake up to the proposition that more people thought that Donald Trump reflected normalcy more than the Democrats do.
I mean, you know when you said that, every once in a while, when it comes to like the pursuit of thought and reason and understanding, somebody just puts it right and it just hits you, like when you get just enough salsa on a chip. No, I'm talking about when you get just enough case on.
The tip where you're like, that's why I'm here. That was that line. That's exactly what happened.
More people thought that Donald Trump reflected normal more.
Than the Democrat offerings, and that when you very embarrassed.
Now when when you talk about what Trump did, what programs he started that fell in the usaid, can you be specific about what those programs are based on?
A couple of the like the tore in the Egypt thing that they came out with where we gave all this money to tour Egypt. You know it was unstarted under him. There was a couple of those other programs. Now here's what Trump has. Then nobody else gets the benefit of. If this was on stephen A. Smith, and I said, hey, steven A, you did that too, you'd have a problem, not Trump, whether it's the vaccine or
the boosters or anything. Trump gets a pass. Why does Trump get a pass when nobody else gets a pass? Because he is seen differently by by his base. Most bases see their people as their agents. He is their spirit animal. He is their ambition to disrupt and destroy what they believe is against them. So they will not go bad on him because that would be them going bad on that ambition and that's not gonna happen.
So being in the Trump sucks. Business is a bad business.
You're in great shape. You got your big chest, out, your arms and everything like that. The top, the word on the top says angry. That's on your shirt. Why why are you wearing that shirt?
Because I love the podcast that PJ.
Rykoff does and it used to be called The Angry American now it's called The Independent Americans. But I believe in anger, anger as passion of pursuit, not anger as animus. You know you wouldn't have me on you know, Steven, you're a tough guy. You're a strong guy, but you're a sweet guy. You don't like bullies. I want to hear bullies, and neither do I. But anger is a good thing. If you're angry about something, good, work harder at it. If you're angry about something, great, change it.
If you're angry about something, use that passion, use that energy, use that provocation to get yourself to a better place. There's nothing more satisfied than saying, oh, you don't think I can, You don't think I can do this? Now you kissed me off, and I'm coming for you. I'll prove it to you great. It's all how you direct it. I have no problem with people being outraged. There are a lot of things that are outrageous. There are a lot of things that are enraging.
I'm enraged.
I'm enraged at myself. I'm angry at me for not being able to make things more clear, make them more obvious, be more productive about how I help people be critical thinkers and make their own choices instead of getting pushed into silos.
So I'm cool with anger, it's just how you direct it.
With that being said, I mean, as we go on from here, I'm just thinking along the line of where is the Democratic Party gonna go? Should you shut up and let Trump do his thing, expose himself, probably before the midterms, which would position you to make some noises and kind of recover some seats in the House. Or do you raise Holy Hell orbeit in a different way than you've been doing. If you're the Democratic Party, where
do they go from here? In light of what we're seeing from Trump and Musk specifically.
They have to be in the business of better.
They're gonna have opportunities in the budgeting process to show that one Trump is being pushed to do things that he said he wouldn't do.
Okay.
You know there's a common phenomenon in politics where people sometimes most times they're motivated to their own self interest. Okay, sometimes they're motivated to something that's against their self interest, and that is happening in the MAGA movement. If this guy gets convinced, and I don't like to give him the excuse, but this is just how I see the dynamic. If the Republicans get him to take a bite out of Social Security, a bite out of Medicaid. I'm not
talking about waste, fraud, and abuse. I'm talking about bone, not fat. Okay, I'm talking about muscle and bone. I think that there is an opportunity in that.
To get back to the masses.
Because Medicaid, you can feel any way you want about it. Ever since they put it into practice in nineteen sixty five is an extension of the Social Security Administration.
The need has only grown.
Five out of eight people in nursing homes, one in ten people are what they call food and secure. We used to call it four hungry. One in six kids are Medicaid. And it used to it was supposed to be like seventy thirty state money, federal money. Now it's fifty to fifty and sometimes sixty five to thirty five
federal money. The states can't carry the load, and the Republican states, some of them, tried to seem austere and refuse expansion during the ACA to kind of smite Obama, to spite him, not smite him.
God does that. And they have referenda in some of those states because people need it.
So they're gonna be opportunities in the budgeting process for Democrats to be in the business of better that you don't have to cut Medicaid, you don't have to cut for the poor when you can go after the rich without without creating pain the same way.
They're gonna be opportunities.
But if they're obsessed with playing gotcha and saying that everything he does is terrible, they're gonna stay right where they are and we're gonna have another aberration, which is a midterm cycle where the incumbent doesn't lose seats first time out. If they keep it this way, stephen A, that's what's gonna happen to them again, nothing changes. If nothing changes.
Before I let you go, I'm not gonna say much without you're okay, But we've got an announcement to make tonight on on on On on Quomo, on News Nation. What we want to tell our audience before your show tonight at eight pm eas to stand the time on News Nation about.
Stephen A. Doesn't like this.
Although my voice has gotten drowneded out in the chorus of just praise this guy gets.
On a regular basis. I know he's paying for these pieces. I know he's paying for these pieces.
Okay, but you know, everybody wants Stephen A to be president. I would never wish that on a friend, but I will say that, I will say this.
About what we're going to announce tonight.
Nobody's ever done anything like it, because nobody has ever had the ambition of being on an even playing field with people who have different ideas. But it's absolutely what this country needs and will benefit from for this slice of the country that is open, critical thinkers.
Who want ideas weighed and don't want to be siloed.
They want to be exposed to really strong representations of different versions of what happening and why I.
Believe that Stephen A.
Smith is going to be in short order the hub of conversation in this country. Everybody wants to talk to him, agree, disagree, like, dislike.
They all want to talk to him. That's his magic. God gives everybody something and it's gonna happen.
And to be part of that, that growth of Stephen A into something that I believe we really need in our culture. More than I've ever even benefited from him in sport and I have, I love him. He's made sports so much more enriching for me, nothing like what I think he's gonna do with public affairs. So what we're announcing tonight is a one of one thing that has a collaborative idea of partners, and I think it is going to not only is it unique right, which is always nice.
It's nice to be part of something that hasn't been done, but I think it's suits and needs Stephen that I think you feel uniquely.
I got to figure out how I'm going to provide value, but I know how you're going to provide value just by how you dress.
Please, please, please, I get back. I have value because I listen to you. You make me look smart because all I do is stop you what you're saying.
That's how I do it. That's how I do it. I still acknowledge from you, my brother. That's what I do.
I know you're paying for those pieces. I know.
Here you go and I'll see you tonight.
Man, I find out who place these pieces. I'm gonna you like ugly on an eighth.
There you stop it, stop it, Chris Cuoma Man, love you, man, Appreciate you.
Man.
I see you tonight.
I love you. Thank you for being my right ma. Man.
The one and only Chris Cuomo right here on the Stephen A.
Smith Show tonight eight pm Eastern Standard Time, News Nation. The announcement is coming. You'll know what I'm talking about when you see it.