Who is Scott Bessent?

Scott Bessent was named this week as the pick to lead the Department of the Treasury during Donald Trump’s second administration. President-elect Trump has been releasing names for his cabinet nominations in grand fashion over the last few weeks to the dismay and screeching of many on the progressive left. Unlike Biden’s DEI hire for Transportation Secretary, the ineffective Pete Buttigieg, Bessent, an openly gay man, was chosen because he is vastly qualified for his potential position.

Scott Bessent lives in South Carolina with his husband John Freeman, a former New York prosecutor, and their two children. He graduated with a degree in political science from Yale University where he was both class treasurer and editor of the Yale Daily News. While he had aspirations to go on to become a journalist after graduation, his big-business internship pushed him in the direction of becoming an investment officer where he garnered decades of international economic experience.

Bessent’s penchant for journalism did not completely wane, however. Back in 2021, he was a silent owner of the startup publishing company All Seasons Press. The company was founded with the raison d’être of giving conservative voices a way to publish their work when many other companies would not.

“The company is open to welcoming those authors who are being attacked, bullied, banned from social media, and, in some cases, outright rejected by politically correct publishers,” the company said in a press release in 2021. The company boasts titles such as Rush on the Radio, a tribute to the late famed radio host Rush Limbaugh; In Trump Time by Peter Navarro; The Bodies of Others: The New Authoritarians, COVID-19 and the War Against the Human by Naomi Wolf, and Tucker, the New York Times bestselling biography of Tucker Carlson, written by openly gay author Chadwick Moore.

In recent months, Bessent has also become a regular on Steve Bannon’s War Room show where he discussed the blunders of the Biden-Harris economy.

Bessent has already shared his plan to bring wealth and stability back to America through the Trump administration. He recently unveiled his “3-3-3” plan, which involves cutting the budget deficit to 3% of the GDP, boosting economic growth by 3% with deregulation, and increasing America’s energy production to the equivalent of an additional 3 million barrels of oil per day. This plan is in lock-step with President-elect Trump’s “America First” agenda to cut back on the size and scope of government while promoting American energy independence.

Trump’s choice to put Bessent at the helm of the Treasury should also quiet the dissenting voices of those fear-mongering about tariffs leading to inflation, a talking point tirelessly trotted out by Vice President Kamala Harris’s failed presidential campaign.

In an op-ed, Bessent described how he would advise the implementation of tariffs in Trump’s new administration. He explained how America is a driving force of the world’s economy and the world’s leading importer. As a country we hold the power to dictate terms of imports and exports. He also points out that despite many economists fear mongering that tariffs will drive up costs, during Trump’s first term, tariffs actually brought inflation rates down.

“President Trump’s first-term tariffs did not raise the prices of the affected goods, despite predictions back then that the tariffs would prove inflationary. Indeed, not only was there no discernible rise in inflation during the last round of tariffs, but the Fed’s preferred measure of inflation actually declined,” Bessent wrote in the piece.

When he is confirmed by the Senate, Bessent will be the second openly gay person to serve in a high ranking position in President Trump’s cabinet. Richard Grenell had the distinction of serving as Trump’s Acting Director of National Intelligence and was the first openly gay Cabinet member in history.

As a married man, Bessent has been a vocal proponent of marriage equality in America. In 2015, he marveled at the progress the US has made in gay rights since his college days at Yale.

“If you had told me in 1984, when we graduated [from Yale], and people were dying of AIDS, that 30 years later I’d be legally married and we would have two children via surrogacy, I wouldn’t have believed you,” Bessent said to the Yale alumni magazine. It stands to reason that if Bessent believed his rights to be married and have children were either threatened or even disparaged by his future boss, President Trump, he would not agree to serve in his administration. The fact that Bessent was a large campaign contributor and donor for all three of Trump’s presidential campaigns also speaks volumes.

Charles Moran, national president of Log Cabin Republicans, said in a statement that Bessent’s nomination “is another step in President Trump’s steadfast determination to fill his Administration with the most qualified people for the job who can help carry out his agenda.”

The statement goes on to say, “Trump’s selection of Bessent, who is also openly gay, married, and has two children with his partner, is also a reminder of President Trump’s love and respect for LGBT Americans.”

Clearly to President Trump and the new face of the Republican Party, being gay is simply a character trait. It is not something to shame or chide, and it is equally not automatically a positive in consideration for a job. The age of the DEI hire should go out with the Biden administration; racist bridges, supply chain woes, and airline debacles are the legacy of inexperienced Pete Buttigieg. Meritocracy without regard to identity is the incoming Trump administration’s model, and the country will be all the better because of it.