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Secretary Bessent Makes the Capitalism Case on Fox News' The Ingraham Angle, Oct. 7, 2026

October 7, 2026 · U.S. Department of the Treasury · 0:07:36

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What happened

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent appeared on Fox News’ The Ingraham Angle on October 7, 2026 (posted by the Treasury Department to its official channel that night), in a segment framed around the economic threat of the opposition’s agenda. “Democrats will do it again,” he said. “They open the border. They blew out the deficit and they blew out inflation. And they’ll do it again.”

His case for the administration’s record, as he stated it: median wages up about 3.7% for the year as of August, with bottom-quintile wages up more; a million private-sector jobs that “are going to Americans”; the federal workforce down 300,000; and a manufacturing boom as construction jobs turn into manufacturing jobs. “Last year, we’re setting the table. This year’s the banquet,” he said. On interest rates, he argued the Federal Reserve should keep an open mind as Alan Greenspan did in the 1990s — high rates today reflect a strong economy, he said, and the administration has paired its private-sector demand shock with supply: “For every new regulation, we’ve cut 120.”

The segment closed on coinage: with the penny eliminated, Bessent said the answer to a nickel that costs 13 cents to make is not a cashless society but reconstituting the nickel’s ingredients to bring its cost down.

Why it matters

The Ingraham appearance is Bessent the campaign messenger in the midterm stretch: the wage, jobs and deregulation figures he repeats across every October interview, plus the administration’s answer to the Fed question — growth can run hot without inflation if supply expands — stated to a prime-time audience in his own words.

Scoreboard watch

Scoreboard watch: the figures as stated on October 7, 2026 — median wages up about 3.7% for the year, roughly a million private-sector jobs added, 300,000 fewer federal jobs, and 120 regulations cut per new regulation. Flagged for the scoreboard editor; no entry is published from this page.

Sources: U.S. Department of the Treasury, “Secretary Bessent on Fox News’ The Ingraham Angle” (official upload, embedded above). Interview as broadcast October 7, 2026; transcript reviewed in the site’s private research store. Figures as stated by Secretary Bessent.