MSNBC star Jonathan Capehart has confessed that he feels conflicted that Donald Trump has chosen an openly gay man as his choice to lead the Treasury Department.
Capehart, who is also gay, said he feels torn about Scott Bessent’s nomination because a Republican president chose the highest-ranking gay government official ever, not a Democrat.
“You know, if confirmed, he would be the highest-ranking LGBT person to ever serve – appointed and confirmed by the United States Senate,” Capehart
“And I said, you know, I was kind of conflicted about it.”
Guest Jon Reinish, a Democratic strategist, then interjected, saying, “In that case, credit where it’s due . . .”
“It’s very interesting, yes, that’s Trump and not someone from our team who got that historic nomination.”
President-elect Trump on Friday announced the money manager as his choice to lead the Treasury Department.
Bessent is a former Democratic supporter who has become an enthusiastic Trump supporter. He is in favor of cutting spending and extending the tax cuts that Congress passed during Trump’s first term.
MSNBC star Jonathan Capehart has confessed that he feels conflicted that Donald Trump has chosen an openly gay man as his choice to lead the Treasury Department
President-elect Trump on Friday announced Scott Bessent as his choice to lead the Treasury Department
He has been married to former prosecutor John Freeman since 2011 and they have two sons.
Before becoming a donor and adviser to Trump, Bessent donated to various Democratic causes in the early 2000s, most notably during Al Gore’s presidential campaign. He also worked for George Soros, a strong supporter of the Democrats.
Bessent, 62, would be the first openly LGBTQ Senate-confirmed Cabinet member in a Republican administration.
In 2020, Trump appointed Richard Grenell, who is openly gay, as acting director of national intelligence. However, the role was not subject to Senate confirmation.
Pete Buttigieg is the first openly Senate-confirmed LGBT Cabinet member, nominated by President Joe Biden to lead the Transportation Department.
In 2015, Bessent told the Yale Alumni Magazine, “If you had told me in 1984, when we were graduating college, and people were dying of AIDS, that 30 years later I would be legally married and we would have two children through surrogacy, then I would do that. you wouldn’t have believed it.’
Bessent follows other financial celebrities who have taken over the job, including former Goldman Sachs executives Robert Rubin, Hank Paulson and Steven Mnuchin, Trump’s first head of the Treasury Department.
Janet Yellen, the current secretary and the first woman in the position, previously chaired the Federal Reserve and the White House Council of Economic Advisers.
Guest Jon Reinish, a Democratic strategist, interjected to say, “It’s very interesting, yes, that’s Trump and not someone from our team who got that historic nomination.”
Scott Bessent is pictured next to his husband John Freeman and one of their two sons, Cole Bessent Freeman. Pictured together in July 2012
As the 79th Treasury Secretary, Bessent would essentially be the top U.S. economic official, responsible for maintaining the leadership of the world’s largest economy, from collecting taxes and paying the nation’s bills to managing the $28.6 trillion government bond market and the oversight of financial regulation. , including tackling and preventing market crises.
The Treasury Department boss also implements U.S. financial sanctions policy, oversees the U.S.-led International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and other international financial institutions, and manages national security investigations of foreign investments in the U.S.
Writing on Truth Social in which he made the announcement, Trump explained Bessent’s credentials.
“I am thrilled to nominate Scott Bessent as the 79th United States Secretary of the Treasury. “Scott is widely respected as one of the world’s foremost international investors and geopolitical and economic strategists,” Trump began.
“Scott’s story is that of the American Dream. Scott has long been a strong supporter of the America First Agenda. On the eve of our Great Country’s 250th anniversary, he will help me usher in a new Golden Age for the United States as we strengthen our position as the world’s leading economy, center of innovation and entrepreneurship, destination for capital, while we always, and without question, maintain the U.S. dollar as the reserve currency of the world,” Trump wrote.