Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent joked that his sexuality is breaking the hearts of first lady Melania Trump’s friends.
Bessent, the first openly gay man to serve as treasury secretary, briefly discussed his experience as a gay politician. As a member of President Donald Trump’s Cabinet, Bessent said he believes the president picked him for his qualifications rather than his sexuality.
“I think that’s one of the reasons we had such a great team,” Bessent said on The Axios Show.
The president and his administration have not shied away from removing diversity, equity, and inclusion programs and policies, instead focusing on merit-based achievements. Bessent discussed working with Trump and the jokes the president would crack with him, referencing his sexuality.
“He’ll occasionally tell me: ‘You’re breaking Melania’s friends’ hearts,” Bessent said. “They see you on TV, and they want an intro, and we have to break the news to them.”
Bessent was asked whether he believed his sexuality affected his early career.
“I don’t think it did at all,” Bessent said.
In April, Bessent said the Federal Reserve was “doing the right thing by sitting and watching” to see how the war in Iran affected the economy before deciding whether to cut interest rates. His comments showed a change in the Trump administration, which previously put pressure on the Federal Reserve to cut rates.
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Bessent said his actions and decisions in his role do not rely on subjectivity as much as other careers might.
“The great thing about money management is there’s a scorecard,” Bessent told Axios. “It’s not maybe, in sales, maybe in trading and relationship management, there’s a lot of subjectivity,”
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[ H/T Washington Examiner ]
