'Not what the president promised': Bessent cornered on CNN over Medicaid cuts

Two days after Donald Trump signed a GOP-crafted budget bill that rewards the rich and punishes the poor, CNN's Dana Bash put Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on the spot over a Donald Trump promise to not tamper with Medicaid which the bill does.

During his appearance on CNN's "State of the Union," where Bessent told the host that the president "is the most economically sophisticated president in the past 100 years, maybe ever," Bash pointed out the difference between Trump's words and the bill he happily signed on Friday.

After Bessent claimed that the American public believes having Medicaid recipients work as part of their eligibility is a good thing, Bash countered, with "It might be popular, but it's not what the president promised."

"The president promised that there would not be changes to Medicaid benefits and putting a work requirement is by definition, a change to benefits," she explained to the Trump official.

"No, there are no change in benefits; there's a change in requirements to get the benefits," he parried before changing the subject and adding, "And what we are doing, we are bringing back manufacturing jobs. We are bringing back working-class jobs by securing the border. We have seen already seen working-class wages move up. So we are creating jobs. People can get off Medicaid and get a job that has good health care benefits."

'In theory that works," Bash countered. "But I'm sure you've seen and heard a lot of the concern, including and especially from Republicans who are the most vocal in Congress, about the fact that those work requirements are going to be very cumbersome to actually prove. And it will inevitably force the people who need that Medicaid coverage off the rolls."

"Well, first, first of all, it's the republicans that are not the most vocal on this," he protested. "It is a group of Democrats who, unfortunately, seem to think that poor people are stupid. I don't think poor people are stupid. I think they have agency and I think to have them register twice a year for these benefits, that is not a burden."

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