Treasury Secretary Says Growing Recession Fears Are ‘Media Driven’

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Sunday that the American public’s growing recession fears are largely “media driven.”

Bessent disputed recent headlines which claimed that the Dow Jones Industrial Average is headed for its worst April since 1932, stating that the stock market is bouncing back after its major drop earlier in the month. A poll conducted by ABC News, The Washington Post and Ipsos found that 72% of Americans believe it is “likely” that President Donald Trump’s tariffs will cause a recession.

“When I look at some of the things that are being published, there was a story 10 days ago that said, ‘this is the worst April for the stock market since the Great Depression.’ Ten days later, the NASDAQ is now up in the month of April, and I haven’t seen a story that says, ‘oh, the stock market has seen [its] biggest bounce back ever.’ So, I think a lot of this is media driven,” Bessent said on ABC’s “This Week.”

The Wall Street Journal issued a stark warning about the stock market in its April 21 piece, “Dow Headed for Worst April Since 132 as Investor Sent ‘No Confidence’ Signal,” stating that Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped by almost 1,000 points. The article further stated that the S&P 500’s performance since Jan. 20 is the worst for any president since 1928.

After an plunge April 21, the stock market surged 1,016.57 points, or 2.66% the following day while the S&P 500 and NASDAQ rose 2.51% and 2.71%. The market continued to bounce back throughout the remainder of the week, with the S&P 500 and NASDAQ gaining 4.6% and 6.7% by Friday, according to CNBC. (Read more from “Treasury Secretary Says Growing Recession Fears Are ‘Media Driven'” HERE)