Scott Bessent, Trump nominee for Treasury Secretary. Married Gay man with two kids. Evangelical reaction.
This is what I know so far. This article will be about who he is and his history, what this says about the Trump administration, and the Evangelical reaction.
Subscriptions are free.
Who is Scott Bessent?
This is the Wikipedia entry for him. He was born in 1962 in Conway, South Carolina. His full name is Scott Kenneth Homer Bessent. Graduated from Yale Univ. in 1984 in Political Science.
He has a long and successful career in finance. He is involved in the affairs of Yale University including being a donor.
He belongs to the Huguenot Church in Charleston, South Carolina. He is married to former New York City prosecutor John Freeman, and they had two children.
In 2016, Bessent purchased the historical John Ravenel House and restored it and was given an award for its restoration. It is known as the Pink Palace.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scott_Bessent
Story continued after photo.
By P. Hughes - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=133248274
It appears that Scott Bessent worked in a hedge fund run by Soros. He was formerly and rather recently a donor to the Democratic Party.
There is a quote of President-elect Donald Trump of his announcement which is as follows:
“Scott has long been a strong advocate of the America First Agenda. On the eve of our Great Country’s 250th Anniversary, he will help me usher in a new Golden Age for the United States, as we fortify our position as the World’s leading Economy, Center of Innovation and Entrepreneurialism, Destination for Capital, while always, and without question, maintaining the U.S. Dollar as the Reserve Currency of the World,” Trump said in a statement announcing the pick Friday, confirming CNN’s earlier reporting.
“Unlike in past Administrations, we will ensure that no Americans will be left behind in the next and Greatest Economic Boom, and Scott will lead that effort for me, and the Great People of the United States of America.”
The article has a description of the duties of the Treasury Secretary. It mentions that at one time he had worked with George Soros managing a hedge fund.
Bessent, 62, advised Trump on economic policy on the campaign trail and is the founder of hedge fund Key Square Capital Management. Before that, he was the chief investment officer at Soros Fund Management, a hedge fund started by Democratic megadonor George Soros. He gained prominence at the firm for leading efforts to bet against the British pound and Japanese yen that netted the firm billions of dollars in profits.
Bessent had been part of the Trump campaign as an economic advisor.
https://www.cnn.com/2024/11/22/politics/scott-bessent-treasury-secretary-trump/index.html
This video doesn’t mention he is Gay.
What the LGBTQXYZ press is saying.
I am not finding much commentary at all. Whereas they have been quick to denounce other Trump nominations, they have been silent with a couple exceptions.
There is this article by Trudy King, Advocate, Nov. 22, 2024, “Trump nominates investment manager Scott Bessent, a gay man, as Treasury secretary.”
This is the subtitle. Trudy King wants to make sure we don’t think this is good news and instructs us how to view this news item.
Bessent, if confirmed, would be the first out member of the LGBTQ+ community to lead the department. His nomination still doesn't mean Trump is an ally, however.
After reporting biographical information from other news sources Trudy King wishes us to know:
Trump's pick of a gay man as Treasury secretary doesn't mean his new administration won't be a threat to LGBTQ+ people, especially transgender people. Another nominee announced by president-elect Friday is more in keeping with the Trump team's ideology. He chose Russell Vought as director of the Office of Management and Budget, a post he held in the last few months of Trump's first administration after having been deputy director and acting director. Vought is a coauthor of the deeply anti-LGBTQ+ Project 2025, a blueprint for conservative government that Trump has claimed to know nothing about.
Scott Bessent is not mentioned in the rest of the article which is about Vought.
Notice the text, “doesn't mean his new administration won't be a threat to LGBTQ+ people, especially transgender people.” It is the use of LGBTQ+ to conflate/confuse the issues of transgender people with what might be Gay issues. It might be that Trump isn’t a threat to Gays at all, but will oppose breast removal gender of 14-year-old girls. By making it a threat to LGBTQ+ rights, maybe some Gays might think they are threaten or they should see opposition to transgender surgery on minors as somehow representing a threat to themselves.
Also, it is patronizing and it hopes to shut down any celebration by Gays to see a Gay in a Cabinet level post.
https://www.advocate.com/politics/scott-bessant-gay-trump-treasury
The following is about the selective reporting of the news.
Them at https://www.them.us/ has no mention of Bessent at all as of 11/24/2024, 2:52 pm CST. Lots of coverage of the other nominees. Just remember, Them is for them and not us Gays.
LGBTQNation doesn’t have an article about the nomination either. They do have an attack piece on Bessent from Oct. 15, 2024. They are busy attacking other Trump nominees.
Washington Blade, Nov. 24, 2024, “Trump nominates gay man for Treasury secretary.”
The article is short, and quotes the Log Cabin Republicans praising his appointment. There isn’t any editorializing.
https://www.washingtonblade.com/2024/11/24/trump-nominates-gay-man-for-treasury-secretary/
Xtra* Magazine had nothing as of 11/24/2024, 3:05 pm CST. https://xtramagazine.com/
Queerty, has no mention of Bessent as of 11/24/2024, 3:26 pm CST.
https://www.queerty.com/politics
They haven’t ignored other Trump nominees.
This is Anderson Cooper’s grilling of Pam Bondi.
The choice of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is reported as being part of a “nightmare.” I rather agree RFK Jr. is not good. However, the point is showing the selective reporting of the news.
Matt Gaetz has an article dedicated to him.
Pink News had no news about Bessent as of 11/24/2024, 3:14 pm. CST. Though they have two articles on Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Pam Bondi.
https://www.thepinknews.com/2024/11/15/donald-trump-robert-f-kennedy-jr-us-health/
https://www.thepinknews.com/2024/11/06/robert-f-kennedy-jr-trump-administration/
For a lot of the LGBTQXYZ media, Scott Bessent is a non-person.
What the homophobic Christian media is saying.
Nothing so far. I have been checking.
Christian Post has nothing on Bessent as of 11/24/2024, 3:38 pm CST, and they have been reporting on Trump heavily. UPDATE: 12/14/2024, searching there are no articles with the word “Bessent.”
https://www.christianpost.com/
Charisma, had nothing as of 11/24/2024, 3:44 pm CST. UPDATE: Nothing as of 12/14/2024.
They also have a news channel, Charisma News, there is a March 19, 2016 article mentioning Bessent as connected to Soros, but not anything about him being Gay.
As of 11/24/2024, 3:48 pm CST, Charisma News hasn’t commented.
Online comments by Christians.
A few homophobic Christians have expressed this rejection of Bessent online in social media platforms. Largely I am not seeing much. There is a lot of people upset that Bessent worked for Soros and he is homosexual, but they don’t make reference to Christianity. There are a few like these.
https://x.com/JamesHartline/status/1860108105864085893
https://x.com/HopkinsMarkP/status/1860117615534075948
Trump Supporters upset with him being involved with Soros and being homosexual.
https://x.com/HopkinsMarkP/status/1860117615534075948
https://x.com/WhosoeverWill1/status/1860731239818576377
Truth Social
The pro-Trump media in Truth Social was very supportive of Trump picking Scott Bessent. It is in the comments you found homophobic reactions.
Just the News, has 881k followers.
The article was very facts oriented without commentary. It was actually, just the news.
https://truthsocial.com/@justthenews/posts/113529306481177086
Comments were sometimes focused on the Soros connection and would he end a hegemony that they believed in. Mostly they wanted to know more. There was a lot of praise posts also, but Bessent’s homosexuality was sometimes commented on. This was very infrequent though.
https://truthsocial.com/@KeithBenjamin/posts/113529390358190341
What the Gay Trump supporters are saying.
“Log Cabin Republicans statement on Trump’s Nomination of Scott Bessent for Treasury Secretary.”
“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.”
Washington, D.C. — Charles Moran, President of Log Cabin Republicans, the nation’s oldest and largest Republican organization representing LGBT conservatives and allies, issued the following statement on President Trump’s nomination of Scott Bessent for Treasury Secretary.
“Scott Bessent is a terrific choice to become the next Treasury Secretary and the Log Cabin Republicans applaud President Trump for his pick. As one of the most brilliant minds in the financial space and a vocal supporter of President Trump’s economic agenda, Bessent will be a strong asset to help President Trump put America back on the path to financial security and economic prosperity. His 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. 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. The Log Cabin Republicans looks forward to working with Bessent and other LGBT allies who have been asked to serve in his Administration, like RFK Jr., Pam Bondi, Tulsi Gabbard, Matt Whitaker, and others, to carry out President Trump’s agenda.”
The online commentary on X is that the Democrats portrayal of Trump was false.
https://x.com/toughtalkty/status/1860121208957862290
https://x.com/plramirez/status/1860123582824898874
https://x.com/NewsAction24_7/status/1860124990949171363
Most of the Trump supporters comments were the same.
So what do I think of all this?
We will see.
I am going to focus on providing reports with info and overview of what is happening. I will hope for the best, but make sure we are proactive to be prepared for the worst.
But I do have three observations.
[1] The conservatives don’t want to annoy Trump with criticism of Bessent on the issue of homosexuality. They all expect something of him and they are all very aware that the loyalty of his supporter is to him personally and they could really suffer consequences if they criticized him.
[2] The LGBTQXYZ press doesn’t know what to do with the Bessent nomination.
[3] Gays aren’t likely to be marched off to concentration camps right away.