CNN anchor Jake Tapper is catching heat after an interview with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent went sideways — fast. A segment about President Donald Trump’s lavish Mar-a-Lago bash quickly devolved when Bessent dodged the question and tried to pin the outrage on former President Barack Obama.
The exchange aired as Trump faced growing backlash for hosting a Gatsby-themed Halloween party at his Palm Beach resort while millions of Americans braced for the loss of food assistance amid the ongoing government shutdown. SNAP benefits, which help feed roughly 42 million people, were set to expire within days.
On “State of the Union”, Tapper asked whether the optics of a “Gatsby-themed party” and a new “$300 million ballroom” were appropriate as Americans went without paychecks and food assistance. Before the question, he played a clip of former President Barack Obama joking that Trump had been “paving over the Rose Garden” and building the ballroom instead of focusing on real issues.
When the camera cut back, Tapper noted the timing — Obama’s remarks came just a day after Trump’s Mar-a-Lago bash — and pointed out that even some Republicans had questioned the optics of lavish parties “while a lot of Americans are hurting.”
Then he asked Bessent for his response, but he sidestepped the question, launching into an attack on Democrats and Obama.
“My response is that the Democrats should reopen the government, and I believe President Obama played a record amount of golf for any president, so I’m not sure why he’s out there throwing stones,” Bessent said.
The remark drew immediate backlash online, with critics accusing Tapper of allowing Bessent to “throw Obama under the bus” without fact-checking his claim.
“@jaketapper When someone tells a GROSS LIE on your show it’s your job as a JOURNALIST to stop + correct the record in REAL TIME,” one viewer wrote on X, formerly Twitter. “You KNOW + @CNN knows Trump has played a record amount of golf, far, far more than anything Obama ever did. You said nothing.”
“Yes. Please@CNN, call out the total BS. It’s enough. It’s perpetual lying with these MFs and they get away with it,” added another frustrated viewer.
“Can we please talk about ANYTHING without them saying “Yeah but Obama was worse??????” ,” wondered another on Threads.
“What does Golfing have to do with the way President Obama ran the country? Deflection is the rule when it comes to Republicans interviews,” asked another.
The Associated Press confirmed that “Gatsby and ‘a little party never killed nobody’” was the official theme of the night. Guests arrived in Roaring Twenties attire, and Trump was photographed seated beside Secretary of State Marco Rubio at a table near the center of the ballroom. Dancers in flapper costumes performed for the crowd.
Prominent Democrats seized on the optics. “Donald Trump hosted a Great Gatsby party while SNAP benefits were about to disappear for 42 million Americans,” said California Governor Gavin Newsom. “He does not give a damn about you.”
Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut was even more blunt: “The way he rubs his inhumanity in Americans’ faces never ceases to stun me. He’s illegally refusing to pay food stamp benefits… while he throws a ridiculously over-the-top Gatsby party for his right-wing millionaire and corporate friends.”
The White House pushed back hard. Spokesperson Anna Kelly told The Independent that Democrats were “full of it.”
“President Trump has consistently called on them to do the right thing and reopen the government, which they could do at any time,” she said. “Unfortunately, Gavin Newscum, Chuck Schumer, and Congressional Democrats would rather push health care for illegal immigrants than save American citizens from suffering.”
Meanwhile, in federal court, two judges issued emergency rulings ordering the administration to release funds to keep SNAP afloat during the shutdown.
Rhode Island federal District Court Judge Jack McConnell said from the bench, “There is no doubt, and it is beyond argument, that irreparable harm will continue to occur” if SNAP funding stops. He ordered the Trump administration to use emergency funds — more than $5 billion — to sustain the program and identify additional sources to keep it running.
Families, McConnell said, were facing “terror” at the prospect of losing food benefits within days. Massachusetts federal District Court Judge Indira Talwani, ruling in a separate case, warned that the government’s suspension of payments was likely illegal. “We’re not going to make everyone drop dead,” she said.
A lawsuit filed by Democratic leaders from 25 states argued that the Department of Agriculture is legally obligated to continue the program as long as contingency funds remain available. By Nov. 3, the Trump administration announced it would pay half of SNAP recipients’ benefits this month.
Trump responded to the court orders with another post on Truth Social, blaming Democrats for the lapse. “I do NOT want Americans to go hungry just because the Radical Democrats refuse to do the right thing and REOPEN THE GOVERNMENT,” he wrote. “If we are given the appropriate legal direction by the Court, it will BE MY HONOR to provide the funding, just like I did with Military and Law Enforcement Pay.”
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