In a disturbing sign of left-wing radicalism, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent was interrupted during dinner at Reveler’s Hour in Washington, D.C., by CODEPINK activist Olivia DiNucci. The irritating activist mockingly toasted him, accusing U.S. sanctions under his oversight of constituting “economic warfare” which she claims will cause starvation and ~600,000 annual deaths worldwide.
For context, Bessent responded by calling her “ignorant” and raising his own mock toast. Patrons booed the confrontation, and Bessent left the restaurant soon after. In a crowing statement, the left-wing protest group took credit for the disruption and repeated tired woke boilerplate.
In any case, Olivia DiNucci, an entitled CODEPINK member, began the disruptive protest by yelling out a rant. “We want to make an announcement! We have a special guest here, and we want to make a toast for the Secretary of the Treasury, Scott Bessent,” she shouted.
Continuing her out-of-touch and hysterical remarks, DiNucci kept up her screed. “So let’s give it up for the man who is eating in peace as people starve across the world based on his sanctions, which are economic warfare,” the activist announced.
Still not done, he claimed, “He oversees the deaths of 600,000 people due to sanctions annually. How many people are going to die because of the blood that’s on your hands?” Prompting Bessant to quip, “You are ignorant, and you have no idea how ignorant you are.”
According to a person familiar with the secretary, Bessant left the restaurant “precisely because the restaurant owner refused to respect other diners and remove the heckler in question,” adding, “Also, the food sucked.”
Likewise, Bart Hutchins, a chef and partner at Butterworth’s, took to X to announce, “Secretary Bessent not phased by tonight’s Butterworth protestors.” Likewise, Raheem Kassam, a Butterworth’s investor, reacted to a video of the incident by saying, “Even the treasury secretary pauses to mock the protestors.”
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In a press release, the left-wing protest group supported their claims with a biased study. “A recent report by The Lancet states that unilateral sanctions now kill around 564K people annually due to severe food insecurity, disease, and lack of water/electricity. Former UN Special Rapporteur Alfred de Zayas estimated that as of 2020, around 100,000 Venezuelans had died due to years of U.S.-imposed sanctions,” CODEPINK alleged.
Summarizing their protest in sardonic tones, the disruptive protest group stated, “As the Trump administration has announced a naval blockade around Venezuela and continues to threaten war on the small, sovereign Latin American country, CODEPINK took the opportunity to call our Secretary Scott Bessent for his role in killing innocent people. ”
Continuing their meandering statement, CODEPINK tried to cast Bessant’s reaction in a way that served their own interests, saying, “Bessant was reportedly so mad at being called out for having blood on his hands that he spat in his food and left the restaurant.”
Clearly triggered, the statement added, “He’s eating in this nice restaurant in Washington, D.C., when sanctions cause starvation across the world. We should be confronting them with our voice as much as we can because people across the world are affected by this.”
Featured image from embedded video