Jim Sciutto Presses Stephen Moore About Trump Memecoin Losses: ‘People Bought It Because of Him!’

CNN’s Jim Sciutto pressed former White House economic advisor Stephen Moore on the Trump memecoin investments that caused nearly one million buyers to lose a whopping $3.81 billion.

The New York Times reported Sunday that while buyers of the $TRUMP memecoin lost their shirts, Trump personally earned more than $600 million from selling the coins and transaction fees.

“The White House this past week rejected the notion that President Trump cashed in at the expense of his followers, saying his actions are taken in the best interest of the American people,” Sciutto began before turning to Moore.

“So, Stephen, he says it’s in the interest of the people. But the facts are simple: More than a million people lost money. The memecoin itself dropped by 98% in value. I mean, that is, that’s like ‘bubble burst.’ Yet, he walks away richer and most people walk away poorer. Is that a good thing?”

“Certainly it’s not,” Moore answered. “And it’s not a good thing for anybody to lose money. I should say, Jim, that I know a lot of people have gotten really, really rich off the crypto market, too, so —”

“Most people who invested in his memecoin lost money,” Sciutto interrupted.

“Oh, I know,” Moore said. “I’m just saying that this has been — I’ve always believed that this is a very risky new kind of investment, and people took gambles. Some of them made a lot of money. We made a lot of millionaires with crypto. And in this case, this was a venture that failed. You know, Trump would have made a lot more money, by the way, if this had not. It’s not like he wanted this to fail. I don’t know all the specifics behind it, but I do feel very sorry for the people who lost money.”

“But what’s different about it, he’s not just any other person,” Sciutto pushed back. “He’s the President of the United States with an enormous political following. People bought it because of him, right? And if you or I started a memecoin, we wouldn’t get that many people to invest and be able to walk away with $500 million in fees. Is that not taking advantage of the office?”

“I think, look. This was something that people wanted to believe in these coins,” Moore said. “I think the president, in good faith, really believed this would be a good investment, and it turned out not to be one.”

“Here’s the thing though,” Sciutto pressed. “It’s not just one bad crypto bet for for the majority of people, it’s a question of profiting from the office.”

Moore argued that Trump was not “using his position to get rich off of these investments,” before repeating that he wasn’t aware of all the specifics.

Watch the clip above via CNN.

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