Ron DeSantis is sympathetic to people determined to be disabled by the Social Security Administration, but he’s not accepting all claims at face value.
“Either you’re disabled or you’re not,” DeSantis said Sunday in Iowa.
The Governor offered distinctions between people with injuries he deems to be legitimate, and those with “fake” disabilities who are scamming the system, citing a rogue “roofer” to illustrate the nefarious scheme.
Regarding people who are “disabled partially,” DeSantis said “maybe, you know, it’s good if you want to maybe work and earn some income,” before warning of a “fine line.”
“There are some people that will kind of fake being disabled then work and then they should, you know, whatever. But I do think that if somebody has a disability and it prevents them from reaching their full potential and they’re eligible fine. 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.’
“Now there’s a lot of fraud in the program and I think that’s been a huge issue,” DeSantis said, calling the problem “just massive.”
“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.”
The Governor made the comments Sunday in Grimes, Iowa.
He was responding to a questioner who said people on disability were often “living in a van, living in buildings that should be condemned” because “they don’t have enough,” with many driven to suicide by their situations.
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