Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has defended his boss’s inflammatory Truth Social post celebrating the death of veteran and former FBI director Robert Mueller.
“‘Robert Mueller just died. Good, I’m glad he’s dead. He can no longer hurt innocent people,’” Kristen Welker read aloud from Trump’s post on Meet the Press Sunday.
The NBC host then asked Bessent: “Do you think it’s appropriate for the President of the United States to celebrate the death of an American citizen, someone who is a Bronze Star, Purple Heart recipient, and who served in Vietnam?”
Bessent sidestepped the question, but suggested that Mueller—who as special counsel led the investigation into alleged Russian interference in Trump’s 2016 election win—had hurt the president greatly.
“Kristen, I was with the president at the green room at Davos, and there was a video playing of what may have been an illegal raid on his home at Mar-a-Lago,” he said.
“They are going through his wife’s wardrobe, and I watched the look in his eye, and I think that neither one of us can understand what has been done to the president and to his family.”
Welker, 49, pointed out that Mueller—who retired from the FBI in 2013—“didn’t order” the 2022 raid, and asked again: “Is it appropriate for the president to celebrate the death of any American citizen, Mr. Secretary?”
“I think that given what has been done to President Trump and his family, it is impossible for either of us to understand what he has been through,” Bessent, 63, responded.
Once more, Welker questioned: “So you don’t think that there’s anything wrong with the post saying, ‘good, Robert Mueller’s dead?’”
Bessent managed to avoid looking the question in the eye for the third time in a row, but maintained that, whatever the case, Trump was the victim here.
“Again, I think that the—we should all have a little empathy for what has been done to him and his family," he concluded.
Vietnam veteran Mueller died at the age of 81 on Friday night, with Trump’s unsavory social media celebration coming a day later. Bessent isn’t the only GOP-aligned public figure to have supported the president’s words.
Many MAGA minions have backed up draft-dodger Trump online, with conspiracy theorist Laura Loomer posting on X: “President Trump says what everyone is thinking. He’s right. We shouldn’t be sad when bad people die.”
