Things got very entertaining during Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s appearance before the House Financial Services Committee when he sent Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-NY) into a spiralling meltdown by cracking a joke at former President Joe Biden’s expense. The incident occurred in the same hearing in which Bessent joked with Rep. Maxine Waters about a New Year’s Eve party that they both attended.
For reference, Secretary Bessent, during the House Financial Services Committee hearing, focused mainly on the current failings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank, explaining what the Trump Administration plans to do to reform the critical but failing institutions. However, Democrats focused mainly on attacking him and President Trump rather than finding answers and solutions.
Amongst those who acted in such a manner was Rep. Meeks. Beginning his very hostile questioning, Rep. Meeks said, “Let me ask this question. Maybe I’m, maybe I missed it. Who was the president, who has been the president since January 20, 2025?” Secretary Bessent responded by telling him, “Donald J. Trump.”
It was with Rep. Meeks’s next question that things went off the rails. Meeks asked, “Okay, and who was the president in 2024?” Responding, Bessent obliquely referred to reports that former President Biden was totally checked out and his autopen was used to sign nearly everything in his final days, saying, “One believes President Biden.”
Normal people in the hearing could be heard in the video chuckling at the joke, getting what Bessent was referring to. Not Rep. Meeks. He, instead, instantly rose into a fury and roared at Bessent, snapping, “One believes? Are you one of the non-believers that the election, that the American people didn’t vote?”
Bessent told him, “I am not,” which set the woke representative further into a furious meltdown. Responding, Meeks against started shouting and randomly asked Bessent about the Constitution, shouting, “You’re not? You said one believes! Do you believe in the Constitution of the United States?”
Not rising to the bait and yelling back, Sec. Bessent calmly told him, “I believe in the Constitution of the United States.” Rambling angrily in response, Meeks snapped, “So you believe in it without any second thought. You don’t have to think about it. You believe in it and you would abide by it. Is that correct?” Bessent told him, “I have and I do, sir.” Getting nearly incoherent, Rep. Meeks then snapped, in response, “Okay, do you know that a president has said he ‘may or may not’? He ‘don’t know’?”
"*" indicates required fields
Watch the incident here:
Commenters on a clip of the incident that took off on X roasted Meeks for his ridiculous performance. One such commenter, for example, said, “These are a complete waste of time. Nothing gets accomplished. It’s performance art. And it’s BAD performance art at that. We need to elect serious people… not TikTok influencers.”
Another commenter noted that the representative’s question was totally absurd, as believing in the Constitution doesn’t mean that former President Biden was competent, saying, “Believing in the constitution doesn’t mean you have to believe in the people executing it. A document is only as good as the people agreeing to live under it and uphold it.”
Featured image credit: screengrab from the embedded video