WATCH: Treasury Secretary Bessent Wrecks CNN’s Dana Bash Over Fake Budget Stats

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent didn’t pull any punches Sunday on CNN’s State of the Union, delivering a brutal takedown of host Dana Bash after she tried to undermine President Donald Trump’s landmark economic legislation, the “Big Beautiful Bill,” using questionable data.

Bash cited the so-called “Yale Budget Lab” to suggest the rich benefit more than the poor from the newly passed Trump budget, claiming, “The Yale Budget Lab says the richest Americans will see their income rise by nearly 2 percent… the lowest-earning Americans will see their income drop by 3 percent, when factoring in cuts to Medicaid and food stamps.”

Bessent immediately exposed the source as politically biased:

“Dana, first let’s have a look at the Yale Budget Lab. Because I was looking at their findings, and this week I actually went on their website. They’re all ex-Biden officials,” Bessent fired back. “So I think we can discount everything they say.”

He urged viewers to dig deeper:

“I’d encourage all your viewers to look at the composition of both the board and the staff. And it’s just not right.”

Bessent clarified that the bill is deliberately focused on empowering the middle class and working Americans, citing permanent Trump tax cuts and wage acceleration as core elements of the legislation.

He also pointed out that under President Trump’s policies — both past and present — high earners continue to shoulder an increased share of the tax burden. That’s a reality the left-leaning media refuses to acknowledge.

Then, Bessent delivered a sharp rebuke of Democrats’ patronizing rhetoric on social welfare programs, particularly regarding the requirement for Medicaid recipients to verify their eligibility twice a year.

“It is a group of Democrats who, unfortunately, seem to think that poor people are stupid,” Bessent said. “I don’t think poor people are stupid. I think they have agency.
I think, to have them register twice a year for these benefits, that is not a burden. But these people who want to infantilize the poor, and those who need these Medicaid benefits, are alarmist.”

When Bash attempted to shift the conversation, Bessent cut in, dismantling the left’s double standard on bureaucracy.

“No, no no. But we’ve also wanted to put in work requirements,” he countered. “Which somehow was very popular under Bill Clinton, was popular under President Obama. And this Democratic Party blew out the deficit in 2020, and they never want to bring it back. But work requirements even poll well with the median Democratic voter, maybe not the fringe.”

The Real Issue?
Legacy media outlets continue to cite supposedly “independent” think tanks that are anything but. Much like Soros-backed nonprofits, these groups often carry neutral-sounding names, yet are run by progressive operatives pushing an agenda. The media, in turn, peddles these talking points as fact — and Americans are waking up to it.

President Trump’s administration has learned from the media battles of his first term. Cabinet officials like Bessent are now fully prepared to challenge misinformation head-on and dismantle the partisan narratives coming from networks like CNN.