Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent confronted ABC News anchor George Stephanopoulos on Sunday over comments Stephanopoulos made during the 1995 government shutdown, in which he reportedly called Republicans “terrorists” for their tactics during the crisis, Fox News reports. The exchange unfolded on ABC’s “This Week,” as Stephanopoulos questioned Bessent on the Trump administration’s plan to resolve the ongoing government shutdown. Bessent, referencing Stephanopoulos’s experience as a Clinton advisor during the earlier shutdowns, accused him of previously labeling Republicans as “terrorists” and argued that Democrats now held the power to reopen the government by crossing the aisle.
The confrontation recalled a 2000 PBS interview in which Stephanopoulos described the Democratic strategy during the 1995-1996 shutdown. Stephanopoulos admitted in that interview that Democrats sought to portray Republicans as “basically terrorists” willing to risk a government default to achieve their priorities.
“Our strategy was very simple. We couldn’t buckle, and we had to say that they were blackmailing the country to get their way. In order to get their tax cut, they were willing to shut down the government, throw the country into default for the first time in its history and cut Medicare, Social Security, education and the environment just so they could get their way. And we were trying to say that they were basically terrorists, and it worked,” Stephanopoulos said at the time.
At the time of the original dispute, Republicans controlled Congress under House Speaker Newt Gingrich.
Stephanopoulos pushed back against Bessent’s version of events, suggesting it was a “mischaracterization of history,” but Bessent insisted he had documentation of Stephanopoulos’s past remarks. Bessent advocated for moderate Democratic senators to join Republicans in ending the deadlock, asserting that the precedent for such political standoffs was set in the 1990s.
“The best way to do it — and look, you were involved in a lot of these in the ’90s,” Bessent said. “And, you know, you basically called the Republicans terrorists and, you know, you said that it is not the responsible party that keeps the government closed. And so, what we need is five brave, moderate Democratic senators to cross the aisle, because right now it is 52–3, 52–3. Five Democrats can cross the aisle and reopen the government. That’s the best way to do it, George.”
“I can disagree with you about the history there, but we don’t have a history lesson right now,” Stephanopoulos said.
“No, no, no. George, George, George,” Bessent asserted. “If you want, I’ve got all your quotes here. I got all your quotes here, George.”