A North Dakota Reddit community is pushing back on U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent after he claimed to understand the struggles of American farmers.
Asked by reporter Martha Raddatz about China's soybean boycott on ABC's "This Week," Bessent's answer raised eyebrows.
"Martha, in case you don't know it, I'm actually a soybean farmer, so I have felt this pain, too," Bessent said, according to CNBC.
The comment gained traction in the r/northdakota forum, where a Reddit user shared a post titled: "Just your average ND *Billionaire* Soy Bean Farmer."
The post features images of Bessent alongside a sprawling waterfront Charleston mansion and states that the property is worth $22 million. It also states that Bessent owns $20 million in North Dakota farmland that he rents out to working farmers.
CNBC reported that official filings show Bessent holds agricultural land in North Dakota valued between $5 million and $25 million. Those filings indicate he collects between $100,000 and $1 million in rent per year from the property.
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Before becoming Treasury Secretary, Bessent ran a hedge fund. A Forbes report published in June put his wealth at roughly $600 million.
Beijing was the largest buyer of American soybeans for years, spending $12.8 billion on the crop in 2024. But when the trade conflict escalated this year, China cut off those purchases, leaving U.S. growers without their biggest customer.
Commenters in the Reddit thread weren't buying Bessent's claim of shared struggle.
"When I heard him say this today, I literally spit my coffee out," one Reddit user wrote. "He's a corporate land owner with other rich people. Farmers rent his land. He has no idea of the financial burden farmers are going thru right now."
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Another questioned the scope of his holdings, writing: "$20 million dollars worth is pretty broad. How many acres and where at?? No matter what it's already started. We need to watch out for these thieves making their way in."
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