Scott Bessent PLAYFULLY MOCKS & GRILLS Maxine Waters Over Her Inflation Propaganda – So SATISFYING

Added: 2026-05-05

[00:00:00]Inflationary? Yes or no? Uh, according to the San Francisco Federal Reserve with 150 years of data, >> Yes or no?

[00:00:06]>> tariffs do not cause inflation.

[00:00:08]San Francisco Federal >> Well, last November as the Trump administration reclaimed my time, you don't get to talk.

[00:00:14]Lumber is at a 5-year low, Congresswoman. Reclaiming my time. Then, let's just have the facts out.

[00:00:19]>> Reclaiming my time. The gentlewoman's time has expired. No, my time has not expired.

[00:00:25]>> Her time has expired. And the gentleman >> took up my time. Mr. I think you should recognize that, Mr. Chair. The gentlewoman's time has expired. The gentlewoman's time has expired.

[00:00:35]>> Well, if you want to hear a parliamentary The chair recognizes Reclaiming my time. The chairman of the committee, Mr. Hoyer. Mr. Chair, if you want to talk to him, go right ahead.

[00:00:44]Congresswoman Maxine Waters walked into that hearing room with one mission, pin Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to the wall on tariffs and inflation. She had her gotcha questions lined up. Her dramatic pauses rehearsed. Her reclaim my time cocked and loaded. But Scott Bessent, he didn't flinch. He didn't stammer. He looked her dead in the eye, cited 150 years of Federal Reserve data, and watched her entire argument collapse in real time. This is the exchange they don't want you to see. Let me play you the full uncut clip first, then I'll break it all down piece by piece so you understand exactly what just happened in that room. You stressed the importance of economic growth to promote financial stability. While you noted many ways you plan to deregulate Wall Street and plant the seeds for another crisis, you said little about the harms of inflation. I find this odd as the president and you have finally began discussing in the media how the price of goods are way too high. Notably, you mentioned that tariffs may need to come down to lower costs for America. So, I have a few questions about this. As a former hedge fund uh, manager in 2004, and I don't want you to go into any long details about this, but did you write a letter to investors raising concerns about the impact of tariffs writing that, quote, "Tariffs are inflationary."

[00:02:13]Did Did you say that at that time? Yes or no?

[00:02:16]>> Uh, No.

[00:02:18]Okay, thank you. Okay. Uh, we have a New York Times article that, you know, agrees that you said that.

[00:02:25]Then last summer, when you testified before a Senate committee, you said, and I quote, "There is no inflation. Tariffs are not being passed on to consumers."

[00:02:34]You are quite You were quite definitive and even claimed that critics had, quote, "tariff derangement syndrome."

[00:02:42]Well, uh, those comments are at odds with the statement you made to investors that tariffs are inflationary. Again, I want to be clear, so just let me ask, you, are tariffs inflationary? Yes or no? Uh, according to the San Francisco Federal Reserve with 150 years of data, Yes or no?

[00:03:02]tariffs do not cause inflation.

[00:03:04]San Francisco Federal >> November as the Trump administration finally began to realize that affordability issues in America are not [clears throat] a hoax, you told Fox News that the government was going to reduce tariffs on goods like coffee and bananas, and that doing so would, quote, "bring the prices down very quickly."

[00:03:24]Mr. Secretary, why was that announcement even necessary? If tariffs aren't inflationary and as you and the president like to say, are paid for by foreign countries, by the foreign country, a tariff on coffee or bananas shouldn't raise the price of either for American consumers.

[00:03:43]Well, that's the Trump logic, but that isn't reality. It did raise prices across the board, and you know it. I think you knew back in July also. The real question is, why would you even impose a tariff on a good that a country doesn't grow or make? Is that what only serve to punish the American consumer?

[00:04:04]Now, as you know, this committee has taken a bipartisan approach to addressing another real affordability crisis, housing. Rents are too high.

[00:04:14]There aren't enough houses. However, one clear reason that the housing crisis has grown worse is that you and the rest of the Trump administration levied tariffs on housing production goods like lumber and steel as well as appliances. These tariffs The chair recognizes Congresswoman Lumber is >> Reclaiming my time. You don't get to talk. Lumber is at a 5-year low, Congresswoman.

[00:04:41]>> Reclaiming my time. Then, let's just have the facts out.

[00:04:44]>> Reclaiming my time. Thank you.

[00:04:48]However, one clear reason that the housing crisis is growing worse is that you and the rest of the Trump administration levied tariffs on housing production goods like lumber and steel as I said, as well as appliances. These tariffs will result in half a million fewer homes built at a time when we need more homes built, not less. Trump single-handedly made housing more expensive, and once again, you know it.

[00:05:14]As Axios has reported that you were planning to lift tariffs on housing protection uh, production goods. In addition, the unlawful campaign the Trump administration has waged with ICE and Border Patrol terrorizing American communities has also harmed home construction across America. So, I ask [clears throat] you, Secretary Bessent, will you be the voice of reason in the administration and urge Trump to stop waging a war on American consumers and on housing uh, affordability and putting the economy at risk? Yes or no? The Representative Waters >> Will you be the voice? You see You you >> be the voice? You you asked >> voice? of inflation.

[00:05:58]>> the voice of reason? And and a study a study >> from Morgan Stanley shows that the biggest Reclaiming my time. The biggest reason housing prices was a massive unfettered immigration.

[00:06:09]>> Mr. Chair, will You let in 10 million and 20 million Will you let him know The time does belong to the gentlewoman from California. 10 and 20 million immigrants to cut the housing housing stock of working Americans, and can you maintain some level of dignity? The gentlewoman's time has expired. No, my time has not expired.

[00:06:27]>> Her time has expired. And the gentleman >> took up my time. Mr. I think you should recognize that, Mr. Chair. The gentlewoman's time has expired. The gentlewoman's time has expired. The chair parliamentary If you want to protect him, The chair recognizes the vice chairman of the committee, Mr. Hoyer.

[00:06:44]>> talk to him, go right ahead. Go right ahead, but I would not expect you to do that.

[00:06:50]All right, folks. Let's unpack this.

[00:06:52]Because what you just watched was not a policy debate. That was an ambush. And the guy getting ambushed walked out standing taller than the woman who planned it. Maxine Waters came into that hearing armed with old hedge fund letters, New York Times clippings, and rehearsed one-liners.

[00:07:10]She thought she was going to embarrass the Treasury Secretary of the United States on national television.

[00:07:15]Instead, she gave him the stage to educate every American watching. Let's start at the top. Waters opens by asking Bessent about a letter he allegedly wrote to investors back in 2004, over 20 years ago, where he supposedly called tariffs inflationary. She demands a yes or no answer, and what does Bessent do?

[00:07:36]He says no, clean, simple, no wavering.

[00:07:39]Now, whether that letter exists or the context was different, it doesn't matter because Waters immediately moved on. She didn't press it. She didn't produce the letter. If you've got the smoking gun, you show the jury. She didn't. That tells you everything. Then, she pivots to his Senate testimony from last summer, quoting him saying there is no inflation and that tariffs aren't being passed to consumers.

[00:08:05]She even throws in that tariff derangement syndrome.

[00:08:09]She thinks she's caught him in a contradiction. So, she asks the big question, are tariffs inflationary? Yes or no?

[00:08:16]And here's where Bessent absolutely nails it. He doesn't take the bait. He doesn't give her the sound bite she's fishing for.

[00:08:24]Instead, he cites the San Francisco Federal Reserve, 150 years of data, and says tariffs do not cause inflation.

[00:08:32]That's not opinion. That's not spin.

[00:08:35]That's a century and a half of economic research from a Federal Reserve Bank in the most liberal city in America.

[00:08:41]Let that sink in. Now, watch what Waters does next.

[00:08:45]Because this is where her argument falls apart completely.

[00:08:49]She brings up the administration's announcement about reducing tariffs on coffee and bananas.

[00:08:55]She thinks this is her checkmate moment.

[00:08:57]If tariffs aren't inflationary, she asks, why would you need to lower them to bring prices down?

[00:09:03]Sounds clever on the surface, right?

[00:09:06]But here's what she misses, and this is critical.

[00:09:09]Lowering tariffs to reduce prices for consumers is not the same as admitting tariffs caused inflation.

[00:09:16]Inflation is a sustained economy-wide increase in the general price level.

[00:09:22]Adjusting specific tariffs on specific goods is targeted trade policy. Any first-year economics student knows the difference. Maxine Waters apparently does not. And this is the part that should make every hardworking American sit up and pay attention. Waters pivots to housing. She talks about lumber. She talks about steel. She talks about appliances. She says tariffs will result in half a million fewer homes built. And just as she's building up her big dramatic crescendo, Bessent cuts right through it. Lumber is at a 5-year low.

[00:09:55]Four words. That's all it took. He didn't need a speech. He didn't need charts and graphs. He stated a fact that blew a hole right through her entire housing argument. And what did Waters do? She panicked. "Reclaiming my time.

[00:10:11]You don't get to talk. That's not the behavior of someone winning an argument.

[00:10:15]That's the behavior of someone who just got fact-checked on live television and can't handle it." Now, let's talk about what Waters conveniently left out of her little housing lecture. She blames Trump's tariffs for making housing more expensive. But where was this energy when lumber prices skyrocketed during the Biden years?

[00:10:34]Where was this concern when regulations permitting delays and government red tape were strangling home construction long before a single Trump tariff hit?

[00:10:43]She didn't mention any of that.

[00:10:45]Because acknowledging it would destroy her narrative.

[00:10:49]The housing crisis in America didn't start with tariffs.

[00:10:53]It started with decades of government mismanagement that politicians like Maxine Waters oversaw and did nothing about. Then she throws in the immigration card.

[00:11:03]She claims that ICE and Border Patrol are, quote, "terrorizing American communities and harming home construction."

[00:11:12]Let me be very clear here.

[00:11:14]Enforcing the law is not terrorism.

[00:11:17]Removing people who are in this country illegally is not an attack on American communities.

[00:11:23]It's a defense of them.

[00:11:24]And the suggestion that our housing market depends on illegal labor?

[00:11:29]That's not the argument she thinks it is. That's an admission that the system she supports was built on exploitation.

[00:11:36]American workers deserve fair wages and legal employment. Full stop. Here's the moment that sealed it.

[00:11:43]Waters asks Besant, "Will you be the voice of reason?

[00:11:48]Will you tell Trump to stop the war on American consumers?"

[00:11:52]And she demands a yes or no.

[00:11:54]But she doesn't actually want an answer.

[00:11:57]Watch the clip again.

[00:11:59]Every time Besant opens his mouth to respond, she talks over him.

[00:12:04]"Reclaiming my time."

[00:12:06]"Reclaiming my time."

[00:12:08]She asked the man a direct question and then refused to let him answer it.

[00:12:12]That's not oversight. That's theater.

[00:12:15]And the American people see right through it. And let's not miss the final exchange, because this is where the wheels completely come off.

[00:12:23]Besant tries to reference a study on immigration and housing stock. Waters is shouting. The chair is trying to restore order. It becomes pure chaos. And in the middle of all of it, Besant stays calm, cool, collected. The contrast could not be more stark.

[00:12:41]One person in that room was governed by emotion and political performance. The other was governed by data, preparation, and composure. You tell me which one you want managing the United States Treasury. Folks, this is what accountability looks like. Not the fake kind where politicians grandstand for the cameras and never let anyone answer.

[00:13:01]Real accountability, where a public servant walks into a hostile room, faces loaded questions, and responds with facts that the other side cannot refute.

[00:13:11]Scott Besant didn't dodge. He didn't grovel. He didn't play the Washington game. He showed up, stood his ground, and proved that when you bring data to a feelings fight, data wins every single time.

[00:13:25]Maxine Waters has been in Congress since 1991.

[00:13:29]She's been doing this act for over three decades. But this time, she picked the wrong target. If you're tired of the spin and you want the real story behind these hearings, the stuff the mainstream media edits out, then subscribe to this channel right now and hit that notification bell. Drop your take in the comments. Did Besant handle this the right way, or does Waters have a point?

[00:13:52]I want to hear from you. And share this video with someone who needs to see what actually happened in that room, not the 10-second clip CNN will show you. The whole thing. I'll see you in the next one. God bless America.