9 Things You Need to Know About Dan Bongino, Trump’s Insane Pick for FBI Deputy Director
A pusher of 2020 election and COVID conspiracy theories, who says he wants to “own the libs,” will be filling what is supposed to be a nonpartisan, career FBI job.
Did you think Kash Patel as director of the FBI was worrying? On Sunday evening, on his Truth Social platform (where else?), Donald Trump announced his pick for deputy director of the FBI: Dan Bongino.
Bongino is a conservative podcaster, conspiracy theorist, and ex-host on Fox News and NRA TV. He is a former NYPD officer and US Secret Service agent – but has never served in the FBI.
“Traditionally, the deputy FBI director has been a career FBI agent,” as NBC News reporter Ken Dilanian pointed out on Twitter, and is supposed to be in charge of the day-to-day operations of the bureau.
As liberal pundit Josh Marshall tweeted on Sunday: “I think the clearest thing you can say about Dan Bongino is that he makes Kash Patel look moderately well qualified.”
So, just how extreme is Dan Bongino? Here are nine things you need to know about the most insane pick for FBI deputy director in modern US history:
To call Bongino a conservative or MAGA partisan would be a severe understatement. Here is how he described himself, in his own words, in 2018: “My entire life right now is about owning the libs. That’s it.”
The far-right podcaster seems to have a visceral hatred for the FBI. In 2023, he tweeted: “The FBI is no longer a law enforcement entity. It is an oppo research firm for Democrats with an armed political enforcement branch.” He also said he wanted to “disband the FBI.” He has called it the “deep state, left wing FBI.” Last year, referring to the bureau, he said: “I don't trust these people at all.”
An angry Bongino likes to hurl vicious and often childish abuse at his political opponents. His Twitter account is filled with posts calling various members of Congress and journalists “pussy,” “fucking moron,” “dumb piece of shit,” and more. Here is how our new FBI deputy director described liberals in the United States last year:
Bongino was permanently banned from YouTube in 2022, when he was caught trying to circumvent an earlier suspension on his account “after he posted a video where he questioned the effectiveness of using masks against the coronavirus.” Bongino has called masks “face diapers.”