If I am being honest, I did not really know much about Scott Bessent before Trump nominated him, but I did know his name was mentioned more in liberal circles than conservative ones before Trump’s first term as president.
Bessent changed gears and became one of Trump’s biggest financial supporters, having raised millions for Trump, and he was rewarded with the Treasury post during this administration.
Since then, he has become one of the most hated officials in the administration, as he continues to send Democrats over the edge, and he just did it again with Mad Max.
When Bessent went before committee during the nomination process, Dems went after him with everything they had.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), in particular, went after him for allegedly avoiding nearly $1 million in self-employment taxes.
Republicans rallied behind him, having stated at the time, “[Bessent] followed all of the applicable laws and met the Committee’s long-standing due-diligence standard. His process matched that which has applied to nominees in every previous administration, and Sen. Crapo looks forward to advancing his nomination.”
The stage, however, was set, and it was clear that he was going to be a target of Democrats during this administration.
During a recent hearing before a Senate committee, Warren called out Bessent regarding Trump’s “day one” promise to get bills lowered.
Now, this is something every politician says they will do, and it is understood that they will begin working on these issues, not flip a magic switch and make eggs go down by $2 a dozen or gasoline go from $5 per gallon to $3 by the time the sun comes up.
As soon as Warren got the microphone, she started, “Secretary Bessent, as one of President Trump’s top economic advisors, you have a lot to answer for.” Bessent, to me, started to forge his legacy, not backing down, but calling out Democrats right to their face.
For instance, when Warren went after Bessent for Trump calling the affordability narrative by Democrats a “hoax,” he responded, “Senator, it may be a bit nuanced for you, but what President Trump is referring to is the media saying that the affordability crisis was generated by this administration when it was you and President Biden who destroyed the buying power of the American people. So there is an affordability crisis and you were front and center in it.”
Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) has exactly zero experience in the financial world, yet she sits on committees that oversee fraud and finances… It explains a lot about why your country is in so much debt right now when people like Waters are responsible for overseeing spending.
With Bessent in the hot seat, Waters went on a nonsensical rant about housing, calling out Bessent to be the “voice of reason” in this administration, and when Bessent started to answer, she literally tried to shut him up…
That exchange shows you everything that is wrong with Congress, not to mention how disqualified Waters is to be sitting in that chair.
These hearings are all about “gotcha” moments and creating a viral clip to drive fundraising. But I have to say, moments like this make them worth watching, if for no other reason than to expose just how unqualified most of the members of Congress are for their roles (at least in my opinion).
