by Nicole Silverio
Treasury Secretary nominee Scott Bessent turned the tables on independent Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders during Thursday’s confirmation hearing, pointing out that President Joe Biden has awarded “oligarchs” top honors.
Sanders cited President Joe Biden’s statement statement in his farewell speech on Wednesday, he said that “an oligarchy characterized by extreme wealth, power and influence is taking shape in America” and asked the candidate whether he agreed with the statement that tech moguls Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg and Jeff Bezos have an overarching influence on the country. Bessent recently argued that Biden featured Democratic megadonor George Soros and The Carlyle Group co-chairman David Rubenstein, whom he called the president’s “oligarch.”
“When you have a small number of multi-billionaires with enormous economic, media and political power, would you agree with President Biden who said last night, and I quote, ‘an oligarchy of extreme wealth, power and influence is taking shape in America’ threatens our entire democracy, our fundamental rights and freedoms.” President Biden said the same thing last night. I agree with him, and you?”
“Listen, the three billionaires you mentioned all made their own money. Mr. Musk came to the country as an immigrant,” Bessent said.
Sanders told people to forget how they made money and suggested that a narrow number of people with significant political power creates an “oligarchic form of society.”
“Well, I would like to point out that President Biden presented the Presidential Medal of Freedom to two people who I think qualify as his oligarchs,” Bessent replied, prompting Sanders to almost immediately move on to another question.
Biden distance The Presidential Medal of Freedom was awarded to a total of 19 participants, including former Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton and former Utah Republican senator Mitt Romney. The White House honored Soros and Rubenstein as “known for [their] philanthropy and generous support” for the renovation of monuments and “cultural institutions”.
Soros poured hundreds of millions of dollars into his organization, the Open Society Foundations and other groups to make the choice supple on crime district prosecutors and judges. Political action committees connected the billionaire spends gigantic sums of money financing left-wing candidates in virtually every state across the United States
Rubenstein, co-founder and president of The Carlyle Group, has estimated net worth $4 billion and is one of Washington’s most influential philanthropists, serving as chairman and donating millions to the Smithsonian, the National Archives and other institutions across the district.
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Nicole Silverio is a reporter at the Daily Caller News Foundation.
