October 28 2025, 08:15 
Out Treasury Secretary and hedge fund manager Scott Bessent is facing criticism for his claim over the weekend that he is “actually a soybean farmer” and therefore understands the pain that farm workers are going through.
“You did mention that China has been boycotting American soybeans, and American farmers have really suffered,” ABC host Martha Raddatz told him on Sunday. “Do you see a real light at the end of the tunnel there? That they may allow soybeans again?”
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“Well, Martha, in case you don’t know it, I’m actually a soybean farmer, so I have felt this pain too,” Bessent said, adding that the U.S. is negotiating with China on this topic. “I think we have addressed the farmers’ concerns, and I’m not going to get ahead of the president.”
Bessent on American farmers being hurt by tariffs: "Martha, in case you don't know it, I'm actually a soybean farmer, so I have felt this pain too."
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) 2025-10-26T13:21:53.529Z
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Bessent is not a soybean farmer if one understands that term to refer to someone who plants, cares for, and harvests soybeans. He actually just owns a lot of North Dakota corn and soy farmland – about $25 million worth – that he rents out, earning around $1 million a year in rent, according to Axios.
According to the American Farm Bureau Federation, 39% of all farmland in the U.S. is leased.
People mocked Bessent for claiming to be a soybean farmer.
“Watching a guy who’s worth a half a billion dollars cosplay as if he’s a soybean farmer is really, really insulting to the soybean farmers in Wisconsin and throughout the Midwest,” said out gay Rep. Mark Pocan (D-WI).
Rep. Mark Pocan (D-WI) REJECTS Treasury Secy. Bessent's claim that he's also feeling pain from tariffs as a soybean farmer: "Watching a guy who's worth a half a billion dollars cosplay as a soybean farmer is really, really insulting to the soybean farmers in Wisconsin and throughout the Midwest."
— The Weekend: Primetime (@theweekendprime.bsky.social) 2025-10-26T23:15:27.404Z
On Bluesky, people criticized Bessent for claiming to be a farmer when he does not actually farm. Some people posted pictures of his former mansion in South Carolina as well, which he sold for over $20 million earlier this year, the highest price ever paid for a house in Charleston. Others argued that owning this land as the Treasury secretary is a conflict of interest since he could, theoretically, be motivated to manipulate the market for his personal financial benefit.
