Scott Bessent blasts NY Times over coverage of Biden’s decline
Scott Bessent tore into the New York Times at the paper’s own media convention on Wednesday — accusing it of pushing distorted coverage of President Trump’s health while downplaying its own failures to scrutinize former President Joe Biden’s decline.
In a tense onstage exchange at the paper’s Dealbook Summit in New York City, Bessent warned Times reporter Andrew Ross Sorkin that the paper was drifting towards irrelevance and had turn into a “fever swamp,” insisting he no longer reads the Times himself.
Scott Bessent tore into the New York Times at its own Dealbook Summit on Wednesday. Getty Images
“You know, in 20, 30, 40, 50 years, the New York Times is no longer the paper of record,” Bessent predicted in comments reported by Mediaite.
The Treasury secretary cited a Times report last week that claimed that Trump, 79 was starting to show his age: shorter public days, later begins, and moments during which he appeared fatigued during conferences.
The Treasury chief told moderator Andrew Ross Sorkin that Times articles forwarded to him proved the outlet had turn into, in his phrases, a “fever swamp,” insisting he no longer reads the paper himself. Getty Images for The New York Times
“I read this article, like ‘President Trump is slowing down. President Trump’s mental capacity –’ It is a hundred percent fake. Like he only called me twice at 2 in the morning last week instead of three times.”
According to the Times story, Trump holds far fewer public occasions than he did during the first 12 months of his first time period and travels domestically at a slower tempo, even as he will increase overseas journeys.
The article also cited situations during which the president’s eyes drooped during noon conferences, and recounted questions surrounding latest medical procedures he disclosed without element.
In a tense onstage exchange, Bessent warned that the Times was drifting towards irrelevance. Christopher Sadowski
In response, Bessent highlighted a prolonged cCabinet assembly as proof the president was absolutely engaged as he faulted the paper for ignoring the tempo of official work.
Bessent went on to accuse the Times of contributing to what he called “one of the greatest scandals of all time” by way of its “coverage of the Biden administration, Joe Biden’s diminished capacity, and the cover-up.”
Sorkin pushed back, arguing that issues about Biden’s coverage meant it was “probably fair to raise these questions” about Trump’s condition as effectively.
A latest Times report said President Trump, now 79, was displaying the realities of age: shorter public days, later begins, and moments during which he appeared fatigued during conferences. Al Drago/UPI/Shutterstock
Bessent rejected that argument, saying the paper had ignored Trump’s tempo of work to fabricate narratives.
“Where was the New York Times? We just had a three-hour cabinet meeting yesterday, Andrew!” he said, before asserting that Biden not often convened his own cupboard and asking how “you’re going to invoke the 25th Amendment if the cabinet secretaries never see the president?”
The Times’ most latest quarterly earnings show the publisher now counts more than 12 million subscribers, nearly all of them digital.
Bessent escalated his criticism by accusing the Times of contributing to what he described as “one of the greatest scandals of all time” by way of its “coverage of the Biden administration, Joe Biden’s diminished capacity, and the cover-up.” REUTERS
The company added practically half a million digital-only subscribers in the latest quarter, lifted income practically 10% and posted double-digit revenue growth.
Its stock trades close to a 52-week high, and analysts peg its valuation north of $10 billion.
The Post has sought remark from the Times.
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