A Morning Joe panel was left astounded after Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent let slip that President Donald Trump’s investment initiative for babies is a “back door” to privatizing Social Security.
As part of the Big Beautiful Bill Act, which was signed into law on July 4, each American child born in the next four years will receive $1,000 as a seed investment, with parents allowed to contribute up to $5,000 each new year.
Host Joe Scarborough played a clip of Bessent discussing the plan at a Breitbart event in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday.
“I’m not sure when the distribution level date should be, whether it should be 30, and you need to buy a house, should it be 60?” Bessent said. “But in a way, it is a back door for privatizing Social Security.”
“Whoa, he said the quiet part out loud,” a stunned Scarborough said.
Rep. Richie Torres, a Democrat from New York, said the remarks show Trump is a “snake oil salesman” who has gone back on his vow not to touch Social Security.
“The slogan of Trump has been ‘promises made, promises kept.’ He made a promise to protect Medicaid, and instead, he has cut it by a trillion dollars. He made a promise to protect Social Security, and now you have his treasury secretary threatening to privatize Social Security,” Torres said.
“And of course, he made a promise to release the Epstein files, and instead, he’s broken his promise to his own base. So there’s a pattern here,” he added.
Co-host Jonathan Lemire noted that Democrats have long warned about Republicans’ efforts to privatize Social Security and called Bessent’s remarks “revelatory.”
“Here we have an extremely influential member of the cabinet suggesting it’s a possibility,” he said.
Money invested in the so-called Baby Trump Accounts must go toward portfolios tied to U.S. stock indexes. Beneficiaries can withdraw from them without facing penalties after they turn 59 and a half, or if they are using the funds for college expenses or first-time home purchases.
Shortly after making his remarks, Bessent clarified that the Baby Trump Accounts are not a foreshadowing of the government ending Social Security payments for retirees.
“Trump Baby Accounts are an additive benefit for future generations, which will supplement the sanctity of Social Security’s guaranteed payments,” Bessent posted on X. “This is not an either-or question: our Administration is committed to protecting Social Security and to making sure seniors have more money.”
The White House and Treasury Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Daily Beast.
The post ‘Morning Joe’ Rips Into Bessent Over Ominous Social Security Remark appeared first on The Daily Beast.
