The former president has basically been in hiding since he left office. But he oddly decided to show he face recently.
And Joe Biden fell flat on his face for all to see during a rare public appearance.
Biden Breaks Silence with Awkward Social Security Speech in Chicago
In his first public address since President Donald Trump’s inauguration, former President Joe Biden took the stage in Chicago on Tuesday evening, delivering a defense of Social Security to a crowd of disability rights advocates. The speech, which marked the end of Biden’s three-month absence from the public eye, was a sharp critique of Trump and Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, accusing them of attempting to “dismantle” the vital program.
Biden’s entrance was anything but smooth. Arriving 30 minutes late, he began reading from the teleprompter while his walkout music blared, rendering his words inaudible to the audience. Unfazed, he launched into an unusual anecdote about his early years, recalling a childhood memory from Scranton, Pennsylvania.
“I remember pulling in, pulling into the parking lot. And I had never seen, I had never seen hardly any black people in Scranton at the time. And I was only going in fourth grade. And I remember seeing the kids going by at the time, colored kids on a bus going by,” Biden said, his voice trailing.
“They never turned right to go to Claremont High School. I wondered why. I asked my mom, ‘Why?’ ‘So in Delaware, I’m not allowed to go to school, public school with white kids, honey.’ That sparked my sense of outrage as a kid, just like it does [sic].”
— Trump War Room (@TrumpWarRoom) April 15, 2025
The former president then pivoted to the heart of his speech, accusing the Trump administration of unraveling the progress made during his tenure. “In fewer than 100 days, this new administration has [caused] so much damage and so much destruction. It’s kind of breathtaking it could happen that soon. They’ve taken a hatchet to the Social Security Administration,” Biden declared, his tone oscillating between a faint whisper and near-shouts, a hallmark of his later presidential speeches.
Biden touted his administration’s efforts to bolster Social Security, including what he called strengthened “anti-fraud measures to protect people’s identities and to make sure benefits are going to people who actually they belong to.”
In a peculiar aside, he quipped, “By the way, those 300-year-old folks getting that Social Security, I want to meet them because I like to figure out how to live that.” The claim raised eyebrows, especially given recent findings by Musk’s DOGE team, which uncovered widespread fraud and abuse in the program since Biden left office.
The speech wasn’t without interruptions. Fox News briefly cut away to fact-check several of Biden’s assertions. Anchor Brett Baier clarified, “President Biden in Chicago talking about Social Security there, saying the administration has ‘dismantled’ Social Security. They have fired and gotten rid of a number of employees, but in that interview with Elon Musk and his DOGE team, they said they’re going after waste, fraud, and abuse in Social Security.”
Baier also noted Trump’s pledge to protect benefits, with Musk reinforcing that their reforms would safeguard the program’s integrity.
WATCH:
WATCH: Fox News cuts away from Joe Biden’s speech for a fact check on his Social Security claims from @BretBaier:
— TV News Now (@TVNewsNow) April 15, 2025
“President Biden in Chicago talking about Social Security there, saying the administration has ‘dismantled’ Social Security. They have fired and gotten rid of a… pic.twitter.com/SWcbksxEwC
Musk himself has stirred controversy on the issue. During a recent appearance on the “Joe Rogan Experience” podcast, he labeled Social Security “the biggest Ponzi scheme of all time,” arguing that current contributions pale in comparison to future liabilities.
Trump, too, has addressed the program’s challenges, pointing to “shocking levels of incompetence and probable fraud” during a March speech to Congress. Under his administration, the Social Security Administration has shed 7,000 employees, with further reductions planned as part of streamlining efforts.
Biden’s nighttime appearance drew a playful jab from White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt. “My first reaction when seeing former President Biden was speaking tonight was — I’m shocked he is speaking at nighttime,” she teased at a Monday press conference. “I thought his bedtime was much earlier than his speech tonight.”
Despite the hiccups and counterarguments, Biden’s Chicago address signaled his intent to remain a vocal advocate for Social Security, setting the stage for a contentious debate as the Trump administration pushes forward with its reforms.
Stay tuned to The Federalist Wire.
