By now every conservative and supporter of President Donald Trump knows that you cannot hate the establishment media enough.
The media’s lies, of course, never cease. Even more galling than the relentless dishonesty, however, is the unique blend of pomposity and lack of self-awareness establishment journalists exhibit while floundering as they try in vain to conceal their obvious duplicity.
In an interview Sunday on ABC News’ “This Week,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told the truth about the media’s reporting on recent fluctuations in the stock market, leaving interviewer Martha Raddatz stumbling over her words and eager to change the subject.
Since Apr. 2, which the president dubbed “Liberation Day,” Trump has made a series of aggressive moves involving tariff policy. Leaders of nations that have spent decades fleecing the United States responded in some cases with bravado. Largely, however, they have shown an eagerness to strike trade deals with the Trump administration.
In other words, the president’s strategy has worked.
The establishment, however, benefits from the status quo. It cannot suffer any change that might benefit the American worker. Thus, the stock market plummeted earlier this month before making a massive recovery.
As Bessent reminded Raddatz, the establishment media only covered the stock market on its way downward.
“When I look at the sum of the things that are being published,” Bessent said, “there was a story 10 days ago that said, ‘This is the worst April for the stock market since the Great Depression.’”
Needless to say, the establishment media never bothered to update that story.
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“Ten days later,” he continued, “the NASDAQ is now up in the month of April. And I haven’t seen a story that says, ‘Oh, Stock Market Has Biggest Bounce Back Ever.”
Raddatz, of course, could not allow that indictment of her colleagues to pass without interruption. Nor, however, could she refute the assessment.
So she stammered and changed the subject.
“Well it certainly — it certainly has gone back and forth. Le-, le- let’s tal — ,” she said.
But Bessent would not change the subject.
“I think a lot of this is media-driven,” he said with a smile.
Finally, she did manage to move on to a different subject that, ironically, illustrated Bessent’s point.
Raddatz turned to a recent Time Magazine interview in which Trump mentioned having made 200 trade deals. Obviously, as the planet does not boast that many nations, the president meant something other than 200 complete trade deals. But Raddatz fixated on it for the same sinister reason the establishment media has spent nearly 10 years parsing and distorting everything Trump has said: to depict him as a braggart and a liar rather than listening for his meaning.
“I believe that he is referring to sub-deals within the negotiations,” Bessent said.
Readers may view the entire interview in the YouTube clip below. The relevant segment began around the 1:06 mark.
As a matter of statesmanship, Trump’s tariff policy should secure his place in the Pantheon of American greatness. On that issue alone, the president really does belong with the likes of James Madison and others.
Of course, Bessent hardly needed to make the case for the policy itself. Instead, he needed only to point out the establishment media’s dishonest coverage of it. That was enough to send the stammering Raddatz running for the metaphorical hills.
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