Scott Bessent may have once flown under the radar, but those days are over. The Trump-appointed Treasury Secretary is fast becoming a breakout star in the administration — not just for his economic chops, but for his brutal takedowns of potential 2028 Democrat presidential contenders. In just the past week, Bessent has torched both California Governor Gavin Newsom and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, exposing what he calls a toxic mix of elitism, incompetence, and media-enabled gaslighting.
It started in Davos, where Bessent delivered a verbal haymaker to Newsom during the World Economic Forum.
“It’s very, very ironic that Gov. Newsom, who strikes me as Patrick Bateman meets Sparkle Beach Ken, may be the only Californian who knows less about economics than Kamala Harris,” Bessent said, taking a not-so-subtle jab at both the governor’s plastic charm and his economic record. He didn’t stop there. “He’s here this week with his billionaire sugar daddy, Alex Soros.”
🚨 HOLY SMOKES. Sec. Scott Bessent just EXPOSED Tim Walz after Fake News ABC tried goading him into attacking ICE
“I was out there two weeks ago, Governor Walz DECLINED to provide a security detail for me to go into the Minnesota Capitol with the state police! So he is FOMENTING… pic.twitter.com/O5GQmrbm9h
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) January 25, 2026
When Newsom made a crude kneepads joke at the same forum — while also comparing President Trump to a Tyrannosaurus rex — Bessent fired back hard.
“To say strange things, like Trump is a Tyrannosaurus rex — what the hell does that mean?” Bessent asked. “I could say Gavin Newsom is a brontosaurus with a brain the size of a walnut. And if you brought the kneepads, maybe that was for his meeting with Alex Soros.”
But it didn’t end in Switzerland. On Sunday, Bessent was back on American airwaves, sitting down with ABC’s Jonathan Karl, a known Trump critic, on ‘This Week’. Karl tried to corner Bessent over the Border Patrol shooting in Minnesota, but the Treasury Secretary wasn’t playing defense.
Karl asked if Bessent was concerned about a U.S. citizen being killed during a protest. Bessent acknowledged the death was a tragedy, but immediately pointed fingers at Governor Walz for stirring up unrest and failing to provide basic security.
“Governor Walz declined to provide a security detail for me to go into the Minnesota Capitol with the state police,” Bessent revealed. “So, he is fomenting chaos because there is substantial waste, fraud, and abuse. My job as Treasury Secretary is to investigate that.”
🚨 BREAKING: Treasury Sec. Scott Bessent just TORCHED ABC’s Jon Karl over the Minneapolis shooting:
KARL: “There’s no evidence he brandished the gun!”
BESSENT: “But he BROUGHT a gun. Have you ever gone to a protest, Jon? Have you? I have. Guess what. I didn’t bring a gun, I… pic.twitter.com/TPMcGVc58r
— Gunther Eagleman™ (@GuntherEagleman) January 25, 2026
Bessent didn’t mince words about the incident either. “This gentleman is dead, but he did bring a nine-millimeter semi-automatic weapon with two cartridges to what was supposed to be a peaceful protest,” he said. “I think that there are a lot of paid agitators who are ginning things up.”
Karl pushed back, insisting the man was a VA nurse and claiming there was no evidence he brandished a weapon. Bessent shot back: “He brought a gun… Have you ever gone to a protest, Jonathan? I didn’t bring a gun. I brought a billboard.”
With that, Karl closed the interview — visibly uncomfortable as Bessent made it clear: the chaos in Democrat-run states isn’t accidental, it’s systemic.
