Daily Wire Editor Emeritus Ben Shapiro debated retirement and Social Security on CNN on Tuesday night, explaining to his fellow panelists how Social Security is on a path to bankruptcy.
During a roundtable discussion on CNN’s “News Night with Abby Phillip,” Shapiro defended his stance that the government should not hand out Social Security checks for people to retire at 65 years old. The Daily Wire host warned that if the government does not raise the retirement age, “We will go bankrupt.”
“Women are living to 85 if they make it to 65, men are living to 83 if they make it to 65 — that’s 20 years on the public dime,” Shapiro added.
Phillip argued that Social Security is a system in which Americans “pay into” to receive that money back at retirement.
“Well no,” Shapiro replied, adding, “I promise you the amount that people are taking out is not the amount that is going in, which is why we are going bankrupt.”
“Okay, but it’s not the government just handing out a blank check,” Phillip said. “People pay into the Social Security system.”
“No, it’s the government borrowing money … you pay in X dollars and then you get multiple times X dollars when you retire,” Shapiro replied. “That is how the system works. It is not a lockbox as what Al Gore was arguing about in 2000.”
.@benshapiro teaching @CNN panelists how Social Security works is the video you didn’t know you needed???? pic.twitter.com/W54BsyPYKp
— Daily Wire (@realDailyWire) September 3, 2025
Ana Kasparian, host of the leftist show, “The Young Turks,” shot back at Shapiro, saying, “I completely reject what you just said about how we’re going bankrupt through Social Security. Really? You don’t think the trillions of dollars we’ve spent on wars in the Middle East might have something to do with that?”
“That is not even remotely a percentage of what we spend on Social Security,” Shapiro replied.
“We’re spending hundreds of billions of dollars on Israel, on Ukraine. I mean, honestly, these foreign conflicts have a lot more to do with our national debt as opposed to us paying into [Social Security],” Kasparian added.
“That is just untrue,” Shapiro fired back.
In 2024, Social Security accounted for 21% of the federal budget, totaling $1.5 trillion. Defense spending, meanwhile, made up 13% of the budget, or $872 billion. Less than 1% of the budget was allocated to international programs, including humanitarian aid. By far, the most significant portion of the federal budget in 2024 was allocated to health insurance (24%) and Social Security.
.@AnaKasparian suggests military spending drives debt more than Social Security:@benshapiro: That’s not even REMOTELY a percentage of what we spend on Social Security.@ScottJenningsKY: You think Israel is a bigger portion of our budget than Social Security? pic.twitter.com/FbD18tnGnP
— Daily Wire (@realDailyWire) September 3, 2025