Scott Bessent Harassed At DC Restaurant by Left-Wing Heckler

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent was reportedly forced to cut short a dinner outing in Washington, D.C., this week after a left-wing activist publicly heckled him inside a crowded restaurant — another example of the increasingly hostile tactics being normalized against officials serving in President Donald Trump’s second-term administration.

According to reports and video shared online, NOTUS reporter Daniella Diaz was dining in the Adams Morgan neighborhood on Wednesday when she observed a woman repeatedly confronting Bessent during his meal.

“While dining with a guest at the Adams Morgan restaurant, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent was heckled in front of dozens of diners by a woman who bashed the administration’s sanctions,” one report noted the following morning.

“Restaurant patron Olivia DiNucci repeatedly struck her glass to garner attention and mockingly toast Bessent, who called her ignorant and asked staff why they weren’t stopping the scene,” NOTUS added, noting that Bessent ultimately left the restaurant after raising concerns with management.

DiNucci accused the administration of global harm but offered no evidence to support her claims.

“He’s eating in this nice restaurant in Washington, D.C., when sanctions cause starvation across the world,” DiNucci claimed without providing context or substantiation. “We should be confronting them with our voice as much as we can because people across the world are affected by this.”

A person close to Bessent later said the Treasury secretary exited the restaurant “precisely because the restaurant owner refused to respect other diners and remove the heckler in question. Also, the food sucked.”

The incident came as Democrats continue to struggle publicly with how to respond to President Trump, whose administration has aggressively pursued sanctions, border enforcement, and economic reforms that have energized his base but left the opposition flailing.

California Democratic Sen. Adam Schiff acknowledged as much during an interview with ABC News’ Jonathan Karl, expressing frustration with his party’s lack of direction.

“I think the lack of a coordinated response, and frankly, it took the focus off of where it should have been, which is on the fact that the president spoke and had nothing to say about what he would do to bring down costs for American families that were watching that lengthy address, sitting at the kitchen table hoping he would offer something to help them afford a new home or pay their rent, afford health care, or afford child care,” Schiff said.

Schiff also reacted to blunt criticism from Pennsylvania Democratic Sen. John Fetterman, who recently described his party’s conduct as “a sad cavalcade of self-owns and unhinged petulance.”

“They’re destroying the economy, and they’re making it harder and harder for Americans to afford things. That’s where we need to keep the focus, that’s why we lost the last election, because we weren’t laser-focused on the high cost of living and what they’re doing now is just making it so much worse,” Schiff claimed — despite recent economic data undermining that narrative.

Karl pressed Schiff on how Democrats should move forward, referencing strategist James Carville’s suggestion that the party should “play dead” and allow Republicans to overreach.

“We need to be advancing policies and making the arguments about what we have to offer, not simply standing back and letting them collapse under their own corrupt weight. To me, that’s not enough. We need to effectively use litigation as we are. We need to effectively use communication to talk to new people in new ways, as we are,” Schiff said.

Polling suggests Democratic voters themselves are unconvinced. A Quinnipiac University survey released Wednesday found that 53% of Democrats disapprove of their party’s performance in Congress, compared to just 41% who approve.

Among all voters, congressional Democrats fared even worse — only 21% approved of their job performance, while 70% disapproved. That 21% figure ties “an all-time low since Quinnipiac University first asked this question of registered voters in March 2009.”

As Democratic leaders debate messaging and activists resort to public harassment, the contrast with the Trump administration’s discipline and policy focus continues to sharpen.