Tech billionaire Elon Musk just dropped a political bombshell during his latest three-hour interview with Joe Rogan, revealing what he calls the Democrats’ dirty secret behind the ongoing government shutdown.
During the interview on The Joe Rogan Experience, Musk revealed how blue states like California and New York are propped up by billions in fraudulent federal handouts disguised as “Medicaid” for illegals, and how cutting off this cash spigot would trigger a mass exodus of these imported voters, crippling the left’s electoral machine.
Musk hammered home the point that sanctuary states are addicted to this federal gravy train.
Democrats are refusing to open the government unless Republicans agree to give health benefits to illegal aliens.
The Gateway Pundit previously reported that a growing number of Democrat states have gone further by expanding Medicaid coverage using state funds.
California’s Medi-Cal program now covers all income-eligible illegal alien immigrants regardless of age, offering full benefits including routine care, prescriptions, and specialty services.
New York provides Essential Plan coverage for illegal alien immigrants with incomes up to 200 percent of the federal poverty level. Washington State includes illegal alien immigrants under its Apple Health program, while Illinois, Oregon, and Colorado have implemented their own versions of expanded coverage.
California’s program alone costs approximately $2.6 billion annually in state funds. New York spends roughly $500 million per year. These programs require states to use their own tax revenue since federal Medicaid matching funds cannot be used for illegal alien immigrants.
The practical result is that while illegal alien immigrants cannot enroll in federally-funded standard Medicaid, many do receive various forms of Medicaid-funded healthcare through these multiple pathways and exceptions, with some states providing near-comprehensive coverage at significant state expense.
New York’s emergency Medicaid enrollment for illegal alien immigrants has risen dramatically, reaching 480,000 as of March 2024, a 1,200% increase since 2014. This group now makes up about 7% of total Medicaid enrollment. Spending tripled over the past decade, from $207 million to $639 million, though average cost per person dropped as many enrollees don’t actually use services.
Musk accused the Democrat-led states of systematically lying to the federal government about how much money they spend on programs for illegal immigrants and said there’s no enforcement or accountability.
Musk went on to suggest that Democrat-run states have created a financial magnet for illegal immigration, using taxpayer-funded benefits to attract millions across the border.
When Rogan asked what would happen if those payments stopped, Musk said that they would lose a lot of voters.
Elon Musk:
That’s what was happening. They were also giving out, like, debit cards with $10,000. So it’s not just about medical care. The Democrats mention medical care because they’re trying to prey on people’s empathy as much as possible. And then they imagine, “Oh wow, somebody has a desperately needed medical procedure — shouldn’t we maybe take care of them in that regard?”But what they do is divert Medicaid funds and turn them into a slush fund for the states that goes well beyond emergency medical care. New York and California would be bankrupt without the massive fraudulent federal payments that go to those states to pay for illegals — to create a massive financial incentive for illegals.
Joe Rogan:
How would they be bankrupt because of that?Elon Musk:
They wouldn’t be able to balance their state budgets, and they can’t issue currency like the Federal Reserve can.Joe Rogan:
Their ability to balance the budget is dependent upon illegals getting funding?Elon Musk:
The scam level here is so staggering. There are hundreds of billions of dollars in transfer payments from the federal government to the states. The states self-report what those transfer payment numbers should be. So California, New York, and Illinois lie like crazy and say that these are all legitimate payments.Well, these days, I think they’re even admitting that they literally want hundreds of billions of dollars for illegals — but for a while, they tried to deny it. So you get these transfer payments for every government program you can possibly think of, and these are self-reported by the state.
At least historically, there was no enforcement against California, New York, Illinois, and other states when they would lie. There was no actual enforcement to say, “Hey, you’re lying — these payments are fraudulent.”
Now, under the Trump administration, the administration did not want to send hundreds of billions of dollars in fraudulent payments to the states. And the reason you have this standoff is because if the hundreds of billions of dollars — which create a financial incentive and a giant magnet to attract illegals from every part of Earth to these states — are turned off, the illegals will leave because they are no longer being paid to come to the United States and stay here.
Joe Rogan:
Wow.Elon Musk:
Then they will lose a lot of voters. The Democratic Party will lose a lot of voters.Joe Rogan:
They would have a very difficult job, if this is kicked out, of reintroducing it into a new bill.Elon Musk:
Yes.Joe Rogan:
Especially once things start normalizing.Elon Musk:
Yes. In a nutshell, the Democratic Party wants to destroy democracy by importing voters. The Republican Party disagrees with that.Joe Rogan:
The ruse is that if you don’t accept what they’re doing, then you’re a threat to democracy.Elon Musk:
Yes.Joe Rogan:
As they try to destroy democracy — yes, by importing voters. That is literally what they are doing, and they’re incentivizing people to only vote for them and overwhelm the system.Elon Musk:
Yes. And by the way, it’s a strategy that, if allowed to work, would work — and in fact, has worked. California is a supermajority Democrat.Joe Rogan:
Yeah.Elon Musk:
And there’s so much gerrymandering that occurs — it’s crazy.
WATCH:
My mind is blown…
Elon Musk: New York, Illinois, and California would go completely BANKRUPT without the massive Fraudulent Payments that go to those states in Medicaid Funds for Illegal Aliens
How? “They wouldn’t be able to balance the state budgets and they can’t issue… https://t.co/3CGkbRa8Mi pic.twitter.com/xUErQNsLah
— MJTruthUltra (@MJTruthUltra) October 31, 2025
The post Elon Musk STUNS Joe Rogan with SHOCKING TRUTH – Exposes Dems’ DIRTY SECRET Behind Government Shutdown: ‘If They Stop Paying Illegals, They’ll Lose Their Voters’ appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.