ABC’s George Stephanopoulos tried to push Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent with regard to ending the ongoing government shutdown. Instead, he was treated to an uncomfortable history lesson.
Watch as Bessent throws Stephanopoulos’ own words on shutdown strategy against him:
GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS: The president continues to post about ending the filibuster. Is that -- is that the best way to end the shutdown right now? Is that what the administration's position is?
SCOTT BESSENT: No, George, the best -- the best way to do it -- and look, you were involved in a lot of these in the '90s. And, you know, you basically called the Republicans terrorists and, you know, you said that it is not the responsible party that keeps the government closed.
And so, what we need is five brave, moderate Democratic senators to cross the aisle because right now it is 52 to three, 52 to three, five Democrats can cross the aisle and reopen the government. That's the best way to do it, George.
STEPHANOPOULOS: I can disagree with you about the history there, but we don't do history lesson right now.
BESSENT: No, George --
(CROSSTALK)
STEPHANOPOULOS: Let's talk -- let’s talk about -- let’s talk about --
BESSENT: No, no, no. George, George, George --
(CROSSTALK)
STEPHANOPOULOS: Let's talk -- sir, let's talk about what's happening right now. I asked you a question --
BESSENT: If you want, I've got all your quotes here. I got all your quotes here, George.
STEPHANOPOULOS: I am sure -- I am -- I'm sure you do. But let’s talk about the situation right now --
(CROSSTALK)
BESSENT: And I went back and read your book. So, you got one -- one purchase on Amazon this week. And that's very much what you said.
STEPHANOPOULOS: That's -- it's a mis -- mischaracterization of history. But I do want to talk about right now, is the best way to end the -- to end the shutdown right now to end the filibuster?
BESSENT: The best way is for five Democratic senators to come across the aisle.
Stephanopoulos KNEW he was cooked when Bessen hit him with the line about the one Amazon purchase for his book. And he pivot-flailed by calling the quote “a mischaracterization of history”, but it is Stephanopoulos who mischaracterized history.
Here is the full “terrorists” quote with context, in Stephanopoulos’ own words as told to PBS Frontline. Bessent didn’t mischaracterize anything.
Q: In the fall of 1995, the government shutdown is dominating the government at this time. The president is doing some real brinkmanship. What was the strategy with the Republicans in the fall of 1995?
STEPHANOPOULOS: Smoke 'em out. There were a few parts. One, nobody knew, and it was perilous, because no one knew who would get blamed more for the shutdown, Democrats or Republicans. But there was more than the shutdown involved. First, there was also this threat that they would not extend the debt limit -- that this was the big hammer that would force the president to accept whatever the Republicans wanted.
Our strategy was very simple. We couldn't buckle, and we had to say that they were blackmailing the country to get their way. In order to get their tax cut, they were willing to shut down the government, throw the country into default for the first time in its history and cut Medicare, Social Security, education and the environment just so they could get their way. And we were trying to say that they were basically terrorists, and it worked.
All things being equal, what changed between 1995 and today? If anything, the press is now more inclined to carry the Democrats’ water than they were back then.
Proof evident of this is the continued framing of the shutdown, casting the Republican Congress as the intransigent party- as opposed to the Democrats who shut the government down. To date, there is virtually no mention of Democrat pressure to end the shutdown. Stories continue to be framed with shutdown victim testimonials, but no onus on Senate Democrats to vote on the clean continuing resolution passed by the House.
As Bessent demonstrates here, the media’s shameless propagandization around the shutdown tends to not resist a basic rebuttal.
Click “expand” to view the full transcript of the aforementioned interview as aired on ABC’s “This Week” on Sunday, November 9th, 2025:
GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS: And we’re joined now by the Treasury Secretary, Scott Bessent. Mr. Bessent, thank you for joining us this morning. We've just heard about all these impacts from the shutdown -- government shutdown right now. Are we starting to see -- see a permanent impact on the economy?
SCOTT BESSENT: Sure, George. And good to be with you. And we've seen an impact on the economy from day one, but it's getting worse and worse. We had a fantastic economy under President Trump the past two quarters. And now there are estimates that the economy, economic growth for this quarter, could be cut by as much as half if the shutdown continues. And what your correspondent didn't talk about there, George, was there's, of course, the human cost, and we're going to have the busiest travel day of the year, the day after Thanksgiving. And, you know, Americans should look to five Democratic senators to come across the aisle to open that. But on the other side, there's also, cargo is being slowed down. So, you know, we could end up with shortages, whether it's in our supply chains, whether it's for the holidays. So, you know, cargo and people are both being slowed down here. And that's for safety's sake, George.
STEPHANOPOULOS: The president continues to post about ending the filibuster. Is that -- is that the best way to end the shutdown right now? Is that what the administration's position is?
BESSENT: No, George, the best -- the best way to do it -- and look, you were involved in a lot of these in the '90s. And, you know, you basically called the Republicans terrorists and, you know, you said that it is not the responsible party that keeps the government closed.
And so, what we need is five brave, moderate Democratic senators to cross the aisle because right now it is 52 to three, 52 to three, five Democrats can cross the aisle and reopen the government. That's the best way to do it, George.
STEPHANOPOULOS: I can disagree with you about the history there, but we don't do history lesson right now.
BESSENT: No, George --
(CROSSTALK)
STEPHANOPOULOS: Let's talk -- let’s talk about -- let’s talk about --
BESSENT: No, no, no. George, George, George --
(CROSSTALK)
STEPHANOPOULOS: Let's talk -- sir, let's talk about what's happening right now. I asked you a question --
BESSENT: If you want, I've got all your quotes here. I got all your quotes here, George.
STEPHANOPOULOS: I am sure -- I am -- I'm sure you do. But let’s talk about the situation right now --
(CROSSTALK)
BESSENT: And I went back and read your book. So, you got one -- one purchase on Amazon this week. And that's very much what you said.
STEPHANOPOULOS: That's -- it's a mis -- mischaracterization of history. But I do want to talk about right now, is the best way to end the -- to end the shutdown right now to end the filibuster?
BESSENT: The best way is for five Democratic senators to come across the aisle. The -- what are we on? Vote 13, 14, 15. Mike Johnson got the reopening out of the House very quickly. And you know what -- what's changed since the spring, George, is -- you know, is Chuck Schumer's poll numbers. He had a clean continuing resolution in the spring. And why are Democrats doing this now, George? Again, you've been involved with this. The -- you know, explain what's changed. You know, Senator Chris Murphy gave the game away this week when he said, "Well, you know, now it's to our advantage to keep the government closed." They have turned the American people into pawns.
STEPHANOPOULOS: The president has also come forward with a new proposal overnight saying it's time instead to do away with Obamacare, instead to have the money go directly to the people. Do you have a formal proposal to do that?
BESSENT: We don't have a formal proposal, but you know, what I have noticed over time is that the Democrats give all these bills the Orwellian names, the Affordable Care Act, the Inflation Reduction Act, and we end up with just the opposite. You know, the Affordable Care Act has become unaffordable, and the Inflation Reduction Act set off the greatest inflation in 50 years.
STEPHANOPOULOS: Well, I'm a little confused because the president's been posting about that overnight and into this morning, but you're not proposing that to the Senate right now?
BESSENT: We're not proposing it to the Senate right now. No.
STEPHANOPOULOS: Then why is the president posting about it?
BESSENT: George, you know, the president's posting about it, but again, we have got to get the government reopen before, you know, we do this. We are not going to negotiate with the Democrats until they reopen the government. It's very simple. Reopen the government, then we can have a discussion.
STEPHANOPOULOS: Let's talk about affordability and inflation. That was one of the key concerns that voters said was on their minds as they were voting this Tuesday. It appeared to be the driving force in the elections. But President Trump is still insisting that prices are way down even though last month's report showed inflation stuck at about 3 percent. Are Americans worried about inflation just wrong?
BESSENT: Well, George, I can tell you, the -- what we're not going to do is what happened the -- under the Biden administration where, you know, the administration and the media gaslit everyone and said, "Oh, you know, there's a vibe session. You don't understand how good you had -- had it." And what happened then was we had the worst inflation, 40 or 50 years -- you know, 22, 23 percent, but the basket of goods and services for working Americans was up more than 30 percent. And what we're seeing is we had to stop the increase first. Now we are starting to see prices level off, come down. You know, gasoline is down, interest rates are down, so mortgages are down. And I think we are making substantial progress on that. And I think over the coming months and the next year, prices are going to come down.
STEPHANOPOULOS: The president says, though, he just had posted this morning that there's almost no inflation. The consumer price index is higher than it was in the beginning of the year. Electricity rates are rising, so are prices for coffee, beef, vegetables, televisions. And it's not just me. It's not just economists are saying that. Your own Republican members of Congress are saying that, including Marjorie Taylor Greene. Let's look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE (R-GA): I go to the grocery store myself. Grocery prices remain high. Energy prices are high. My electricity bills are higher here in Washington, D.C., at my apartment, and they're also higher at my house in Rome, Georgia. Higher than they were a year ago. So -- so, affordability is a problem.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
STEPHANOPOULOS: How do you respond to Congresswoman Greene?
BESSENT: Well, George, what I -- what I would respond to is electricity prices are a state problem. And you know, I was very interested to see in the earlier clip where the governor -- the governor-elect of New Jersey said, "Well, I'm going to bring down energy prices." Well, it was her predecessor, Phil Murphy, who took them up. So, you know, look, there are things that the federal government can control. Local electricity prices are not one of them. But, you know, energy prices, gasoline prices, are a way down. And, you know, we -- we are doing what we can every day. I think we're on a very good path to bringing prices down.
STEPHANOPOULOS: Let's talk about tariffs and the Supreme Court. The president is also posting about tariffs this morning. He's saying, “people that are against tariffs are fools. We're taking in trillions of dollars.” Is that true?
BESSENT: We have taken -- over the course of the next few years, we could take in trillions of dollars, George. But the real -- the real goal of the tariffs is to re-balance trade and make it more fair. You know, over time, the president's goal is to bring back manufacturing to the U.S. You know, for the past two, three, four decades we have seen our manufacturing sector gutted. So, what would happen over time is we would take insubstantial money, as factories come back to the U.S., as we're seeing now. I was just down in South Carolina at a rare earth magnet plant and a Boeing plant on Friday. And, you know, that's the, I believe, 1,500 total new jobs. Tariff income will be substantial, but then that will rebalance. The goal here, George, is to re-balance trade. So, tariff income will be substantial at the beginning. It will come down. And then domestic tax revenues will climb as corporate taxes go up and all of these high-paying jobs are created.
STEPHANOPOULOS: The president's main argument, though, seems to be that we’re -- it's about taking in the revenue. And he also promised this morning a dividend --
BESSENT: No, no, no, George. Stop right -- no.
STEPHANOPOULOS: A dividend of at least $2,000 a person, not including high-income people. How is he going to pay that dividend of $2,000 a person?
BESSENT: Yes, George, it’s not about taking in the revenue, it's about re-balancing. And the revenue occurs early on. And then as we rebalance and the jobs come home, then it becomes domestic tax revenue.
STEPHANOPOULOS: Are you worried that the president's focus on revenue, though, which is what he’s been focusing on in his public statements, is going to hurt your argument in the Supreme Court?
BESSENT: Not at all. It's completely consistent that the revenues come in at the beginning, then, as we rebalance, which is the goal of this, bring back high-paid manufacturing jobs to the U.S., then it will then morph into domestic tax revenues. You know, President Trump has consistently fought for the American worker, and we are seeing trillions of investments in the U.S. that would not have occurred without the tariffs. The other thing, too, is, you know, the authority that he uses is called IEEPA. It is an emergency authority. And he used that emergency authority. He got the Chinese to the table to negotiate on stopping the pre-cursors for fentanyl drugs. You know, fentanyl, hundreds of thousands of Americans dying every year is not an emergency, what is? On October 8th, Chinese threatened to put export controls on rare earth materials. He was able to threaten 100 percent tariffs, and we were able to negotiate that away. And then, finally, in terms of the general tariffs, we are doing these trial deals that would not be possible. We were at a tipping point in terms of the economy, in terms of our trade balance, and we are re-balancing successfully.
STEPHANOPOULOS: Do you have a proposal, a formal proposal, to give a $2,000 dividend to every American?
BESSENT: I haven't spoken to the president about this yet, but, you know, it could -- the $2,000 dividend could come in lots of forms, in lots of ways, George. You know, it could be just the tax decreases that we are seeing on the president's agenda. You know, no tax on tips, no tax on overtime, no tax on Social Security. Deductibility of auto loans. So, you know, those are substantial deductions that, you know, are being financed in the tax bill.
STEPHANOPOULOS: Secretary, thanks for your time this morning.
