Heads Explode As Trump Makes Another Huge Appointment (Ep. 2371)
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Get ready to hear the truth about America on a show that's not immune to the facts with your host, Dan Bongino. Did I, did I, did I, did I not tell you? Did I not, did I not? See Castaway with Tom Hanks? Luke, at what we have created, I told you, you gotta do the Rock'em Sock'em Robots, man.

Yesterday, freaking heads were exploding everywhere. I mean, exploding. On TV, eyeballs popping out, vocal cords, ears falling off.

Craniums opening up, brains coming out of, heads exploding everywhere. Pete Hegseth, oh my God, John Ratcliffe, what's good? Deep state people freaking out. This isn't the way the government screws over America. We can't have a Pete Hegseth and a John Ratcliffe. And what did I tell you? What did I tell you? Now all of a sudden...

Not hearing much about Pete Hegseth. Why? Because they're busy exploding their heads over Tulsa. I mean, Matt, I mean, I mean, they don't even know. I'm not doing the Trump dance. You know, the Trump dance. This is the Rock'em Sock'em Robots, which conveniently, ironically, looks the same. It's the only way to roll, brothers and sisters. Did I not tell you cutesy time is over? What do you think cutesy time is over? Looks like.

Now, I know I'm not lecturing any of you all. You're smart people. I love you all. You're my crew. But do you see the swampies on our side melting down over Matt Gaetz and Tulsi Gabbard at AG and DNI, respectively? They don't understand cutesy time is over. It's over, bro. It's over. We got a lot to talk about today, and I mean a lot.

Everyone, watch the heads explode. Pack it back in. Pack it back in. Beam's cyber sale is here. Bongino listeners enjoy up to 50% off at shopbeam.com slash bongino using code bongino. Don't miss Beam's biggest sale of the year. Thanks, Beam. A lot to get through today, including I have a pretty honest take on this. Very serious about the Matt Gaetz at AG. Because we haven't agreed on everything. I think that's pretty obvious if you're a regular listener to the show. So I think I can give a pretty fair assessment.

Stay tuned. Hey, for over 10 years, Patriot Mobile has been America's only Christian conservative wireless provider, standing behind their service and their values as a company. They're an example of putting the cause ahead of profits. It's why I'm proud to partner with them right now. You can get their Every Friday Matters special today. Patriot Mobile is giving away a brand new smartphone when you out there make the switch. Patriot Mobile offers exceptional nationwide coverage, giving you access to all three major networks without your dollars funding the left. When you switch to Patriot Mobile,

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And folks, always, always, someone sent me a really nice compliment. The hat tip to Tim Pool. Tim Pool, he's a great Tim cast. He has one of the best live streams out there at night. We love Tim Pool. He sent a very nice compliment out there. He was like, you know, guys, Dan Bongino is the news. I'm not the news. You guys are the news. You guys have made the news. But one of the things I think you guys really enjoy about the show, I hope, is that I try to fit things into a construct that makes sense. You always gauge the success of a tactic by the response of your opponent.

Do you notice how the response to Rubio and Ratcliffe has been muted, but the response to Gates and Hegseth hasn't? The left is losing their minds. Pete Hegseth is now the nominee for defense secretary, a huge job running the Pentagon, and Gates at AG. Folks, all the right people are losing their minds. This is what I mean by this. I want you to please get those horse blinkers on right here. Look straight ahead. This is super important.

When the people who hate you and have weaponized government to destroy the Constitutional Republic, Donald Trump and you, the MAGA crowd, when the people who hate you are furious about something, they're furious about it for a reason. Because they know there is a legal reckoning coming. That's why. And Trump, you've got to trust the plan. Trust what he's doing. Now it is, gosh, I want to fuck this up.

Now, does it make sense why he's appointing people in this order? Some people, folks, are more mainstream picks. I told you yesterday, please listen to the show. And some of you got upset at me. It's fine. It's a family. I'm not the king here. I'm not the dad. I'm just part of the family like anyone else. I'm your uncle who likes some Casa Dragones once in a while. That's it. But your uncle's been around a little bit.

I said to you, you're not going to like every pick because Trump is gaming this out perfectly. Folks in the chat, do you see what he's doing? Seriously, put it in there. I'm reading. He's announcing some picks that are loyalists. He's not putting anyone who's not loyal in there, but, you know, may not have been the hardest conservatives or MAGA people in the past, but are loyal to him, and he knows he'll get the job done. Got a Rubio. You got a Noam, a Stefanik, a Lee Zeldin.

I'm not knocking these people out. I'm just saying he's announcing some of them. He quiets down the temperature on the look. Who's got the people's elbow? Rocket in the chat. The people's elbow comes down. The people's elbow. This is what rock them, sock them robots is. You hit them, you hit them, you hit them. Then all of a sudden they're like, oh, this doesn't hurt. Boom. There it is. There it is.

People's elbow, man, just comes off the top rope. Macho man, savage style. Do you see what he, do you think this is, do you think this is being done by accident? Trust your guy. No, not there. It is a chat. You guys are rocking it, man. I love you guys. Trust your guy who Dan. No. Yeah. Trust me. But Trump knows what he's doing, man.

Give this guy some time. So let me just say a couple of things. Cutesy time is definitely over. All right. This is what cutesy time is over. Looks like all the right people are pissed off. And you know, I'm giving you an honest take because I've never bullshitted you. I don't agree with Matt Gates on everything. I thought the speaker plan, you heard me. You heard me on the show. I wish we had an exit plan, a better ramp. I think it worked out. I mean, listen, we can work on Johnson. There's a lot to improve there.

McCarthy, who knows? I mean, we'll see in the long term if we can get some legislation passed, however. But you got to, let's be straight. You know, we always have, we haven't always seen eye to eye on things. But I'm going to tell you something. When it came to the Secret Service debacle and keeping President Trump alive, I met with Matt Gaetz up at the Heritage thing when I did that little congressional hearing we did. And there's no one more concerned about keeping Trump safe than this guy.

Let me show you a little Matt Gaetz for all the people freaking out. They go, he's not going to get confirmed. Eh, stand by on that. You sure? Maybe. We'll see. But there's a plan. Trust it. Here's Matt Gaetz versus Christopher Wray.

This is one of the finest clips you'll see today. This guy understands that Christopher Wray, who hopefully will be leaving his job the minute Trump is sworn in, Matt Gaetz gets it. The FBI management has worked as a singular force to destroy liberties and freedoms in the United States, and they better get a guy in there who's willing to see it for what it is. This guy sees it. Watch this. I'm sitting here with my father.

I will make certain that between the man sitting next to me and every person he knows and my ability to forever hold a grudge that you will regret not following my direction. I am sitting here waiting for the call with my father. Sounds like a shakedown, doesn't it, director? I'm not going to get into commenting on that. You seem deeply uncurious about it, don't you? Almost suspiciously uncurious. Are you protecting the Bidens?

Absolutely not. The FBI does not and has no interest in protecting anyone politically. You won't answer the question about whether or not that's a shakedown, and everybody knows why you won't answer it. Because to the millions of people who will see this, they know it is. And your inability to acknowledge that is deeply revealing about you.

Now, some, apparently some Republican senators are bitching and moaning and griping already. This guy, Andrew Desiderio says, hey, my phone's blowing up with Republican aides aghast at the nomination of gays. Were they aghast at the nomination of Derek Farland, sometimes known as Merrick Garland? I'm not so sure. They didn't sound aghast. They were aghast-less with Merrick Garland, but now they're aghast. They're aghast. What, do you want to date him?

How many times do I get to tell you this? Michael, if I'd have said this a thousand times, what is this, a Tinder site? I don't like my kids. I don't like the way. Really? What do you want to date with them? What do you want to do? You want to you're looking for some after hour activities with them or something? What are you worried about? All I'm worried about is a guy who gets it and is going to clean up the act over there. It was a plus one or a minus one. I see the world transactionally as a spreadsheet. You're going to fix the government or not. That's it.

Senate Republicans, you better get your asses in line. I'm sorry. We've got a big army of people out there not really happy about what happened in the Senate with the majority leader race. We're waiting to see what happens now. This is Trump's pick. A lot of people wouldn't have jobs if it wasn't for Trump. That's a fact. You got your panties in a wad over this?

Get with the program. We already got, what, Susan Collins and others? We're not voting. Okay, fine. I promise you, Trump has a plan. Send her Susan Collins. Now she opposes Mac. Of course. Of course she does. Probably loves Merrick Garland. Probably thinks he's a real hero. By the way, just throwing this out there. When this happened...

I shouldn't say this. I'll say, cause this is going to sound like ex post facto me trying to look like a ringer, but screw it. I mean, I had a feeling this is what no one, I swear to you. I, again, I had no idea, but,

But I had a feeling this is what they were talking about when Trump mentioned that the Madison Square Garden rally, they had a little secret. I wasn't sure it was going to be AG. I thought maybe FBI director or something. But I had a bit of a feeling when Donald Trump said this. Play that cut. We got to get the senators elected because we can take the Senate pretty easily.

And I think with our little secret, we're going to do really well with the house, right? Our little secret is having a big impact. He and I have a secret. We'll tell you what it is when the race is over. Ah, whatever. Talking about it after the fact sounds kind of dopey. But I had a feeling, I thought maybe FBI director or something, but now I think it's fairly obvious what the little secret may have been. Folks, all the right people are furious.

You know, I'm curious here. Bocino, this is a real poll because this is the biggest audience in conservative media digitally. There's no number two. We got 151,000 people, so this is a big freaking poll of MAGA folks right here. That's the big house plus another 50,000. Bocino, if you're out there, get on the case. Yes, you agree with the pick. Very simple. Why? You like the Gates pick? No, you don't. I like to say some of you may not.

I'm just trying to explain to you that when Dan Bongino tells you cutesy time is over, this is what cutesy time looks like. You want a cutesy time pick? You're worried about resumes and who's going to get their lobbyist job and who's, you know, sunning their balls out on a beach in Belize and Ibiza, whatever. That's not this guy. That's not this guy.

More. Some of you put more. It wasn't one of the technical answers, but you get two extra points for putting it in. I think we may melt the chat again. Man, you guys are blowing it up. All the right people are pissed. All the right people. I'm not a hypocrite.

Matt and I are not the best of friends. Matt and I, I've had probably five, six conversations with him. When he needs something about the Secret Service, we talk. We're not coffee buddies. I'm telling you, this is what cutesy time is over looks like. How do I know that? Folks, who is the number one deep state reporter mouthpiece for the deep state intel community? Anybody know?

Yes, Ken Delaney and Fusion Ken Delaney. And when Fusion Ken Delaney and goes on TV about Matt Gaetz and starts melting down again, folks in the chat, who is he speaking for?

The deep state. So if Ken Delaney is saying, oh my gosh, this pick is so terrible, the deep state is freaking out. Measure the success of what you're doing by the response of your enemies. I know that's hard to digest, especially for swampies who are like the National Review crowd. Oh my gosh, we can't have John Bolton. My mustache is burning. We can't have this. When they're freaking out, you know we did something right.

Watch this. - Well, Katie, I've gotten two different texts from different people at the

Justice Department who just used the word insane to respond and react to this potential appointment. And then also questioning whether Matt Gaetz can be confirmed. And one person asked me to research whether anyone had ever been nominated for the post of attorney general who had been investigated by the Justice Department. We'll have to look into that. But my initial reading is that I can't think of any time that's ever happened in American history. And not only was Gaetz investigated and not charged, we should

point out in the sex trafficking investigation but he has been perhaps among the top five most vociferous critics of the f_b_i_ and the justice for men and not just critics but accusing them of being corrupt and weaponized and unethical

at every single congressional hearing that ever -- anytime -- he's on the Judiciary Committee, and any time Chris Wray, the FBI director, or Merrick Garland, the attorney general, or other lower officials have gone before that committee, you could count on Matt Gaetz taking aim at them in very extreme language and accusing them of unethical and corrupt behavior.

Oh my gosh, guys, did you hear that? Michael's like, forget it. Michael's like, I'm totally out on Gates. He's like, forget it, I can't do that. He accused the FBI of unethical behavior?

Justin says he's out too. Justin's 100. Justin's a Florida cat too. So is Michael. Michael's still got a lot of Wisconsin. We'll work on it. Justin's been a native his whole life. Justin has got like Sunshine State blood in him through and through. You would think he'd be a loyalist. Justin's like, I definitely can't do Matt Gaetz. He mentioned that the FBI may have been engaged in unethical behavior. And Fusion Ken says it. Justin's like, I'm sold. I'm pulling my support. He's out. He's totally out. He's like, I don't know.

I don't know, man. He's still worried about Star Wars and The Mandalorian. He's only worried about that right now. Folks, always a priority. Always gauge it by the reaction of your political opponents. I'm going to tell you something from some pretty good sourcing. Folks, the head's exploding. It ain't even done yet. You think they're upset about Gates? Oh, you just wait. You just wait.

It isn't even close to done. They're still sweating Pete Hegseth and Ratcliffe. They haven't even, they don't even know what to do about Tulsi at DNI. They have no idea. This is not the Trump dance, although it looks it. It's the Rock'em Sock'em Robots, kids. Folks, seriously, in the chat, because this is my only interaction with you digitally.

Do you agree with me now? This was the way to rock and roll, not to play it ninja style and just do everything slow and keep everything quiet. You seeing the strategy now?

Hit him openly, hit him up front, hit him repeatedly. Don't ever let him get their sea legs. And they will never be able to drop enough ink on any one of these people's heads to do any damage like they did last time. The mistake they did last time, they appointed Mike Flynn, who is not, that's not a mistake appointing him. Don't rethink. Yeah. Yes. Just hit him. Who just said that? Who just said that in a chat? Yes. You just hit him over and over again. They appointed Flynn, which wasn't a mistake by the way.

They let the media focus their attention Saul Alinsky style on Flynn without dropping more bombs on their head. And what happened? We lost them. That was the mistake. They're not making that mistake again. You want to see how good of a pick this was? For all the right cutesy, time is over. Here's Andrew McCabe. Can you imagine the balls on this guy? For those of you who don't remember, Andrew McCabe was the acting director of the FBI and the deputy director of

He is one of the top two or three most destructive deep state FBI figures involved in the collusion hoax and spying on Donald Trump. There is no disputing this guy's role in the FBI actions against Donald Trump. I wrote books about it. This guy is knee deep in all of it, Andrew McCabe.

Oh, he's pissed off. Oh, he hates this. Andrew McCabe is afraid a reckoning may be coming. Gauge the success by the reaction of losers like this guy. Watch this. Matt Gaetz, who is potentially on track here to lead the agency that includes the FBI, where you spent so much of your professional life. What are the implications of having Matt Gaetz as attorney general? Good morning, Casey. You know, there's...

There are so many things that kind of jump out to you when you hear the prospect of that nomination. But I think the first thing that really impresses me is what it says about Donald Trump's intention for the Justice Department and the FBI. Matt Gaetz is obviously wholly unqualified for this job. He's someone who, I mean, quite frankly, couldn't get hired by the FBI if he was – had he ever been interested in that, which I'm sure he never was.

Michael just said it right. Michael's like, okay, Andrew McCabe with a history of blatant dishonesty as a running the deep state FBI, by the way, a guy I've heard from people who know him who was never a street guy at all. He was always a briefer. Like it came in there and put on a brief, but never actually went out there and actually like shoe leather to case. Okay.

Michael's like, oh, he's surely telling the truth this time. Now we should trust him. Now we should trust Andrew McCabe. It's amazing that they put this guy on. Can you imagine the balls on these people? Folks, this is important. I do not speak with forked tongue. Key, you remember the show when we did the whole show and some people objected? I said the most important pick was what? Everybody's like, VP. I said, no, it's not. VP's important. I love J.D. The most important pick is Attorney General. You remember the show? It happened yesterday.

That's why we're spending so much time on this. If he can't get through in confirmation, then recess it. I'll show you what I mean coming up. And again, all the right people are losing their mind, including the mustache, John Bolton, who's on a country on planet Earth. Bolton's not interested in a nuclear war with at some point. Okay? So I'll take a hard pass on old Jay Botts, all right?

Folks, let me take a minute here to tell you about something near and dear to my heart. It's a charity I've been involved with for a long time, Folds of Honor. I'm asking you as a friend. They pay for the advertisement on the show, obviously, but we wind up giving it back to them. We owe a huge debt to the men and women who serve in our military and our first responders, but it doesn't end with them. These heroes have families, spouses and kids, and some of them are never going to see those spouses and kids anymore because they're dead, because they died for you.

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Please help me out and help Folds of Honor. If you're ready to make a difference, please head over today. I'm asking you as a favor, Bongino Army. This charity, the guy who runs it, Dan Rooney, is a good man. And I mean a really good man. It's foldsofhonor.org. Please make a donation. No amount's too small. You've got a dollar, that's fine. You've got five, better. You've got 50, you're amazing.

That's foldsofhonor.org. Together, we can meet sacrifice with hope. It's a great charity, folks. Foldsofhonor.org. Thank you, Folds of Honor. We really appreciate everything you're doing. Okay, back to the show. Measure it, folks. When you have a combination of deep state losers, Ken Delaney, Andrew McCabe, CNN, MSNBC, Rachel Maddow, losing their minds over Matt Gaetz, okay?

And then you combine it with old school, swampy, I hate the term neocons, but this guy meets that. There's no question this guy meets the criteria. I'm more of a libertarian bent. This guy wants to start a war everywhere, Johnny Bolton. Then you know the case for Matt Gaetz is even better. You want to date the guy? No. Do I want to have coffee with him? No, I'm working. So is he. I need a ball buster. And based on John Bolton's assessment, I think we got one. Watch this.

President-elect Trump intends to nominate Matt Gaetz to run the Department of Justice. What was your immediate reaction when you heard that? Well, it must be the worst nomination for a cabinet position in American history. I think this is something that falls well outside the scope of deference that should be given to a president in nominating members of his senior team.

Gates is not only totally incompetent for this job, he doesn't have the character. He is a person of moral turpitude. And notwithstanding how difficult it may be politically, this is a nomination the Republican Party should oppose. Folks, I need you now, okay? I need you. I need you to listen to this segment. It's really important. Fun time's over for now. This is tactical time. To the chagrin of some on this show,

I'm focused on tactics and winning. I say that because a lot of you like me are really passionate. And even when the whole Gates thing and the speaker thing went down, I'm about plans and plus ones and minus ones. I do not get involved in emotional stuff. I don't. I'm a passionate guy. I don't like the left, but I promise you I win. I asked you a favor. Did I not? Tell me I didn't. Even for my haters out there.

I said, please vote down ballot. A lot of these guys are going to be turkeys who are Republican congressmen and senators, but we need them because of a very simple tactical reason. Some of you didn't like that. Dan, I'm not voting for anyone with Trump. I said, that's a huge mistake because what's going to happen then is Trump is either going to get impeached or we're not going to get any of our nominees judicial or cabinet approved. Now you're seeing why.

Now you're seeing why you've got to vote for a few turkeys sometimes to get a solid Thanksgiving dinner. It's the only way. We don't live in a perfect world. You're never going to get every appointment you want. You're not going to get 55 MAGA loyalists. You're always going to get five or six turkeys in states like Maine where Susan Collins really doesn't have a choice. Okay? I need you now, though. It is time for you to put the squeeze on your senators.

And on your, I know the house doesn't have a role in the nominations process. However, they do matter too. And they'd like their phones up too. I need you. This Spongino army is the most powerful force in conservative media. And believe me, everyone knows it. I need you now. We have millions of people.

I need you to make sure that your home state senators are voting yes and getting out of the way. We're not going to get Collins. You're not going to get Murkowski. You can and should call him, but that's not going anywhere. We still have 51. Even if we lose one more, we still got J.D. to break the tie. This is not the time for cutesy time stuff. Cutesy time is over.

I need you, the Bongino Army, to make your presence felt. We were very practical with them. And you tell them I said this. Say, Dan asked a favor. We pulled the lever for you. You would have never been in there if it wasn't for me. But candidly, you can be honest with them. I only showed up for Donald Trump. Don't make us look like idiots now, okay? I'm serious.

I'm not here to piss anybody off. I'm not here to collect scalps. It's not what I do. I'm here to win. We got you guys in there. This army of people, we did that. We did what you asked. Now we have a request too. The Matt Gaetz poll was overwhelming. There's 151,000 people in this chat room. This is not a small sample. This is what we want. If it doesn't work out, we'll get rid of them. That's okay. We did what you asked. Now it's your turn.

This is not a one-way street. There is a backup plan, however. I told you Trump has a plan. Don't get too crazy about any one decision. There's a big plan here. There's a reason for every Rubio. There's a Hegseth and a Gates. There's a reason for every Elise Stefanik. There's a Ratcliffe. There's a reason. There's a reason. Trust it. Here it is, ABC News.

Folks, they're going to be able to get Rubio and Ratcliffe and Elise Stefanik through no problem. That's not even going to be an issue. They're also going to be able to get probably a couple more through no issue. There's going to be a couple struggles in there. And the Democrat portion of the Senate is going to want at least one scalp. Their scalp right now is Gates.

That's who they want. We have another option because Trump's already thought it through. Why do you think Trump wanted the senators up for majority leader to pledge that they'll go along with recess appointments? Because he's stupid? No, because he's actually very smart. I'm going to explain to you recess appointments in a second, but put up the ABC News piece. Recess appointments could short circuit Senate opposition to Trump nominees.

They note any of Trump's appointees successfully installed during a recess would have the same legal authority and pay as a Senate confirmed appointee. That said, a recess appointment is temporary, expiring at the end of the Senate's next session. So effectively two years. However, there is no bar on successive recess appointments of the same person.

It remains a contested legal question. However, you'll get at least two years. That's what we need. Now, what's the complication behind a recess appointment? I don't want to bore you to death with government civics, but it's important you know this. A recess appointment is exactly as it sounds. When the Senate and the House go into recess, in other words, bye-bye, we're going back home to campaign and do constituent services. We're not in D.C. voting. The president can appoint people that have the same exact powers.

In recess. I'm sorry, there are liberals listening. I don't mean to sound like a dick, but there are people out there. I know you guys know you're all smart, the MAGA crowd, but liberals don't. These recess appointments carry the exact same weight. The problem is the House and the Senate have to be in recess and they have to be in recess for about 10 days and they both have to agree. You get where I'm going with this?

So if Donald Trump, say, puts the squeeze on him, says, you guys got to, you know, you need to go back to your districts, maybe go into recess for 11 days, you may have a vehicle to get Tulsi and Matt Gaetz through who may have a problem. I think Pete will be okay, but...

That's Trump had a plan the whole time. Am I explaining this right, folks in the chat? Why do you think he sent that true social post out a few days ago? I need anyone in the Senate to commit to resets appointments. You think it's because he's stupid? He knows what he's doing. Trust the appointments. Seeing a lot of people, I don't like this guy. I don't like this one. I don't like this. He's doing it for a reason.

He's trying to give them enough where they can do the approval process, confirmation process, and then he knows he's going to have to throw a couple recesses in there. Trust this plan, man. He knows what he's doing. He didn't pick these people by accident. Every single one of them has downsides. I got news for you. If Trump were to call me about something, and he has not. I just want to be clear. I'm not hinting anything. He has not, period. I have downsides too, folks. We all do.

A lot of these people, human beings have baggage. But when you put the whole thing together, it all makes sense. You ever do a puzzle? You look at one piece, you're like, where the hell does that go? And you say, oh, there, it was obvious. That was the hand on the guy's, that was the guy's hand. Trust it. He knows what he's doing.

Quick break, and I want to get to Rubio and Tulsi, Pete Hegseth, and we haven't even celebrated the trifecta. We won the house too. Everybody should be celebrating. I don't like to see this intro party, you know, bullshit going on.

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Okay. The team is coming together, folks. The best way I've described it, which I heard someone kind of fleece for me last night on cable news, which is okay, which is okay. You can take it. I'd wish you'd give us credit, but whatevs.

I call them the Avengers. The Avengers are back, okay? This is the team of Avengers. But even with the Avengers, you know, you need some guys in the Avengers in there and the team, you know, you need your Hawkeyes, right? Your Hawkeyes and the people who may not be like Captain America, but they get it. They understand what humans are like. Captain America don't understand what humans like. He took the super serum. Now he's superhuman, okay? You need a Hawkeye once in a while, right? You need that.

That's why you're getting picks like this. Rubio. Now, you know, Rubio knew a lot about the deep state spy gate thing. We got to clear that up. But there's a reason Donald Trump picked Rubio. He's not stupid, folks. Anyone in the chat have any idea? Some of you may object to this. I'm not telling you're going to like everyone. Rubio has bona fides with both sides. We've got to cut deals, folks.

Dan, we should be getting, I'm talking about on the legislative side. We have the slimmest of buffers, slimmest of buffers when it comes to the house. We lose one rhino and it's going to be done. Someone gets sick, it's over. They had to pick a couple of people. Let me give you a quick example in case you think I'm crazy.

Democrats and Republicans in the past have typically picked someone from the opposite party for their cabinet. You've got like the John Huntsman for Obama. Huntsman was a Republican.

I'm pretty sure Trump's not going to pick a Democrat. Could argue Tulsi, but she's now a Republican, so that's kind of different. Tulsi's been going that way for a long time. But there's a reason he picked a Rubio. He doesn't want a Democrat, but he needs a couple of guys in there who have some bipartisan appeal. And please, someone said to me yesterday, I almost lost it on the air. You're getting sawed. I'm getting sawed. Who the hell opened this show telling you about heads exploding, telling you cutesy time is over? I'm asking you not to trust me. I didn't pick him. I'm not the president.

Don't trust me. Trust him. He knows what he's doing. I promise you. When I know something from the inside, I'll tell you. I know from the horse's mouth, man. He knows exactly what he's doing. And let me tell you something. People are going to be on a short leash. Do you understand? There's not going to be any more Rex Tillerson bullshit. People are going to be on a short leash. He knows he's got two years. He's got four. No, he's got two.

He absolutely understands. Please trust me. Have I let you down yet on anything? Trust me. Please trust me. He's got a plan here. Then we got Tulsi Gabbard at DNI. I really like that pick a lot. I like Tulsi.

You know, the former Democrat thing, the abortion position bothers me a lot. But as DNI, it's not going to be about politics, going to be about national and the intel swamp. And no one has been a bigger fighter against the swamp and censorship than Tulsi Gabbard. It is what it is. And I like to pick. You're free to object. I'm not the monarch here. The thing that's great about this family is this is a family.

I am not the freaking dad, okay? I'm just one of you guys. And of course, we have Gates. This is a really strong national security team. Folks, can you imagine? If we can get Kash Patel over at FBI, that's my guy. That's my pick. I'm going to go with him.

Donald Trump makes his own picks. He does not need advice from Dan. I love you, President Trump. You're my guy. I'm just telling you, I think Kash Patel. Can you imagine this dream team here? Again, you're looking at a national security crisis. You've got Hegseth. You've got Tulsi. You've got Ratcliffe. You've got Kash Patel. You've got the Secret Service Director, the ATF Director. Imagine that little Justice League table. You want them making decisions?

Or you want Lloyd Austin making decisions with his face mask and 72 masks on. That's who I want. And by the way, congratulations. CNBC finally projected to win the House majority. It was obvious. We secured the trifecta. But I'm going to say to you again, throw that up. Thank you. Thank you all. Round of applause for you. Thank you for doing it. Listen, I know a lot of you objected. I know a lot of you objected. And I respect you. A lot of you said I'm there to vote for Trump.

And I tried to explain to you that you got to pull the lever for these Republicans. Hold your nose. I know they're not the solution to your problems, but the Democrats are the cause of your problems. Are you seeing why now?

Folks, if we did not get Bernie Moreno, John Tester, excuse me, Tim Sheehy ran against John Tester. If we did not get Jim Justice, if we did not get Dave McCormick in there, are you seeing now why the Dan Bongino down ballot, not theory, but fact, works? There's no way you'll get a Gates or a Hegseth. There is no way.

If you don't have 51, you're not going to get confirmed at all. And then they can't recess appointment everyone. They can't. It would never fly. Trust this plan, man. Trust it. By the way, I'm going to get back to this in a second with, you know what? Let's just go to, you got that Thune video. There's some, a bombshell January 6th pipe bomb thing that came out last night, which in the,

Context of everything going on almost got lost. Sorry, you just threw it up on the screen and that's not your fault. I got a little distracted because it's such a bombshell. Sorry, stay tuned. I'm going to get to that. I promise you. But just quickly, John Thune yesterday won the Senate majority race. Okay, it's over. I'm not wasting any more time on it at this point. There's nothing to waste our time on. He was not my pick. My pick was Rick Scott. That's obvious. He was on the radio show twice.

It didn't work out. We're not going to win them all. I wish we would have won that one. We didn't. Now let's hope Thune sticks to his word. It's up to you as a resident of South Dakota and elsewhere to keep this guy on track. Yesterday, he said that he's all about the Trump agenda and getting these nominees pushed through. I want you to do me a favor. Cut this video right here, folks, and keep it on your phone because if these guys bury Gates and others, we're going to tell them, wait, didn't you just say you're going to push these guys through because we have the video? Watch this.

When it comes to choosing nominees who will pass a set of confirmation. Well, as you know, the Senate has a advise and consent role in the Constitution. So we will do everything we can to process his noms quickly, get them installed in their position so they can begin to implement his agenda. OK, listen, I'm not being a dick about it. I'm just saying you said it. You said you will, quote, do everything you can to get them processed quickly. We're just holding you to your word.

We're withholding judgment. We wanted someone else. That didn't happen. That race is over. I'm a tactical guy. There's no sense wasting time on a race that's already finished. You don't put your money on a horse that's already lost the race, okay? That race is over. You go to bet in the next race now. But you said it, and now we're going to hold you to it. We're expecting these people to be pushed through. You said it. Folks, the one guy we've got to get through in a critical position is Pete Hegseth.

We've got to do everything. I want to prepare you right now. This confirmation hearing, if it's not a recess, is going to be brutal. They are going to do everything they can. Do you have any idea how many, I'm talking trillions here, and that's not an Austin Powers mistake. Trillions of dollars of defense contracts over decades are at stake here. There is not a more...

broken process than Pentagon procurement and our DEI woke military management, then they do not want Hegseth because he's a change agent. They are terrified of him. We've got to burn a lot of capital on this. We've got to make sure he gets through.

It is going to be a horrendous confirmation process for him. He's ready for it. He's a door kicker, but this is one we need. If we don't reform our military, listen to your guy, we are not going to have a country. There's not going to be a freaking country left. I'm telling you right now, we've got to get this done. Gates and Hegs said we've got to get it done.

Here is base John Roberts on Fox. John Roberts, who, by the way, I don't know John that well. I met him a few times at Fox. Always a very nice guy. Again, none of this is personal. If he was a dick, I'd tell you he's really not a very nice guy. But I never really took John for kind of like a base, like conservative guy. He's been tearing it up on Fox. John's like Hannity. He's turned into like this really great defender of the freedom and liberty agenda. And it came out of nowhere. Here he is yesterday.

Calling bullshit on Elizabeth Warren, Pocahontas, the biggest fraud in the Senate, attacking Pete Hegseth as our defense secretary nominee. Watch this. Elizabeth Warren decided that she wanted to go on X and talk about Pete Hegseth. She said, quote, a Fox and Friends weekend co-host said,

is not qualified to be the Secretary of Defense. I lead the Senate military personnel panel. All three of my brothers served in uniform. I respect every one of our service members. Donald Trump's pick will make us less safe and must be rejected. Well, first of all, she says she respects all service members. Doesn't sound like she respects Hex's. And I look through her pedigree

Unlike Pete Hegseth, she did not attend Princeton or go to graduate school at Harvard. So, I mean, is she in a position to be throwing stones?

Do you remember that? She put a recipe in the book for powwow chow. This is who Elizabeth was. She's attacking an Ivy League graduate decorated military officer with two decades of military experience, including combat experience. You're attacking. I love how they call him, by the way, a Fox News host. A Fox News host. Really?

That's insane. Would they say the same thing about Mark Levin? You realize Mark Levin served in the Justice Department. He's been an activist forever. He's written best-selling books. He's filed lawsuits on behalf of the Constitution. What is he? Is he a Fox News host too?

Dead Bajito, a shitty podcast host. I'm not even going to give you my resume because I'd sound like an asshole. But I'm assuring the liberal D-bags like Warren and others with no resume at all other than powwow chow, we've actually done something before. And we speak credibly about these issues. And maybe that's why we have a following, including 192,000 people now. And you've got shit, Fox News host. And they act like that's an insult.

It's only the biggest conservative cable news channel on earth. And he holds, he has huge ratings on the weekend. Millions of people listen. Fox News host. Dumbasses. We got to get this guy through. Folks, if you've seen this, I'm going to give you a second. Call your friends. Tell them to tune into this right now. This is important. I'm serious. I accidentally flagged an email here too, which is kind of weird. So sorry. You got them? Go get your friends. This is critical.

Folks, whoever comes in to FBI, hopefully it's Kash Patel and Secret Service. This has to get cleaned up. This came out last night and in all the hubbub and heads exploding and rock them, sock them robots around Hegseth and Gates. This story got lost. Julie Kelly texted me this morning. Hat tip, John Solomon. This is from just the news. January 6th shocker. And this is a shocker.

The phone companies are now disputing, shocker, the FBI's testimony on the pipe bomb suspect, Barry Loudermilk, a Republican lawmaker, reveals. Leave that up on the screen a second. Do you remember when the FBI said, hey, that guy who we've got,

We triangulated his cell phone, the guy who allegedly planted the bombs in front of the DNC where Kamala Harris was on January 6th. I know many of you are familiar with the story. For those of you who aren't, Kamala Harris was at the DNC on January 6th. She was only at the Capitol for a small amount of time, and there was a bomb found that time. Really? Yes, really. Look it up. Well, the guy was on his cell phone because there's video of it, meaning we could figure out who the guy was by his freaking cell phone. What cell phone pinged?

Well, the FBI told us that the cell carriers told them that the data was corrupted. Really? Because now the cell carriers have told Congress, oh, no, it wasn't corrupted. They have intact phone usage data from the vicinity where two pipe bombs were planted during the January 6th incident. Oh, really? Directly disputing FBI testimony that agents couldn't identify a suspect because the phone data was corrupted.

But as two thumbs had called it, I told you this was bullshit. Folks, I'm telling you what happened. There is a massive cover up because the person who planted those pipe bombs, they don't want you to know who it was because it's either a connected anti-Trump insider or this was an inside job.

Those bombs were planted there. This was a setup. I have zero doubt. And whoever goes into Secret Service better get those texts. And whoever goes into FBI, Kash Patel, or anyone else, you better get an answer from that Stephen D'Antuano about why the hell they said that these phone data records were corrupted. They know who planted those bombs. And I'm telling you, it is the biggest scandal in modern American history.

Those bombs were planted by someone they knew. It was meant to shut down the January 6th questioning of the certification process by Republicans to set up a fake assassination plot against Kamala Harris. I have absolutely zero doubt about that. The data has been there the whole time, just like we says, just like we says.

By the way, I was watching Unforgiven. Have you ever seen Unforgiven? That is the single greatest Western movie I think ever made. I know that may be heresy to some, but I absolutely love it. Remember the Duke of Death scene? It's the Duke. Duck, I says. Like I says, this was a fake assassination plot. Trust your guy.

Folks, the media and the death to democracy crowd, the real death to democracy to them, they cannot reconcile their position now. As this transition goes forward, you are going to see more messaging confusion on the left. They don't know what to do. They're trying to balance to their... You have to remember, they were telling their listeners and their viewers at MSNBC and elsewhere that Donald Trump was actually Hitler. I don't mean like biologically Hitler. He's dead. I mean like actually Hitler and that they shared the same Nazi ideology.

A position so stupid, only a moron or a liberal would believe it. Some of them did. I know it's hard for you to process. Come on, they didn't really believe it. No, they did. So now they're having a real problem...

adjusting their message as the transition happens and Biden and Trump are shaking hands in the Oval. I thought he was Hitler. Now they have to acknowledge that they were lying the whole time trying to scare their people. Here's Karine Jean-Pierre, completely overwhelmed and confused about this question. Has no idea how to answer it. This is going to be a big problem going forward. Check this out.

We saw a unified front related to a transition in the Oval Office meeting, but a lot was said on the campaign trail, like Trump is a dangerous threat to our country and our democracy. Was there an apology today?

I'm sorry? Was there an apology from President Biden for the words, some of the words used? An apology from the president, President Biden. To President-elect Trump for some of the words that was used on the campaign trail. Look, and I've answered this a couple of times about a threat to democracy in the past week. The president is going to always feel obligated to be honest with the American people. What he says still stands. And it's not just him.

You heard this from former staffers. You've heard it from the former chief of staff, John Kelly, and others. You've heard it directly from the president, president-elect, the former president, about enemy of the people. Very, very clear. Very clear. What we want to be also very clear about is the importance of listening to the will of the American people.

the hell can you listen to the will of the American people if they just picked what you told everyone was Hitler and a Nazi? Folks, this is a real problem going forward.

Let me, can I do a thought exercise with you? I know this stuff is typically stupid, but in this case, it'll matter. I get so many people out there. I get so many people out there who are genuinely confused. They're like, no way, Dan, they didn't believe. I'm telling you, they believe it. If there was a person you really trusted in politics, right? Let's say it was Trump, for example. And he tells you he loses to a...

some Barack Obama type and says, this guy's a communist who's going to come in tomorrow and cross the country. There's going to be a bunch of people who are going to buy it. They don't want to see the guy in there shaking hands. They're having the same problem on the left. They don't know where to go with it. It was always bullshit. Here's a quick video from CNN. Here's a bunch of Biden staffers out there yesterday taking pictures of the moment Trump arrived. What do you

want a picture of Hitler for? I don't say you're going to show your family. Hey, look, we met Hitler today. Here, watch this CNN report. Check this out here as Caitlin was on looking at that imagery. And it's really stunning. Those are those are Biden staffers. They're in the OB. Some of them are lower level, some of them perhaps a little bit higher. But they're there to watch a history moment being made. Nobody standing there wanted.

Yet they're out there taking photos of it. Dave, this is a real messaging issue. I want you to understand that. You guys are way too smart. I've had a bunch of people email me. Oh, Dan, they're not upset because they never believed it. No, they did.

And now the left is having a hard time tactically raising money from their people. Think about this, okay? Even better kind of a true story moment here for you. Think about this. You've gone to your big donors and said, I need $100,000. It's a lot of money to get Kamala Harris elected because this guy is freaking Hitler. Now all of a sudden you give your $100,000. You're calling up. You got a direct line to these ringers. You're like, what the just happened? You told me to give you $100,000 to stop Hitler. Now you're shaking his hand?

Folks, it's been bullshit the whole time. And the media had an opportunity to correct the bullshit and get the left on the straight and narrow and say, listen, fight the fight the right way on the issues. You object to Trump, say why. Stop calling him Hitler. Nobody's going to buy it. You're going to gin up your base. You're going to look like morons. They couldn't do it because the lefty media people are freaking commies too. And I have not heard this expressed any better, this show included, than Greg Gutfeld on The Five.

He's saying right here in this short one-minute clip, he's talking about exactly what I'm saying, that the media had an opportunity for a sister soldier moment where they could have finally said, listen, whatever. We don't like this guy. Here's why you think he's dangerous. But that shit's out of line, okay? He's not a racist. He's not a misogynist. He's not a Nazi. And you didn't do it. And now your time is up because now you're going to have to admit to your people you were bullshitting the whole time. This is an unbelievable clip.

Watch every second of this. Check this out. Greg, how do you think the Democrat Party's autopsy is going? Well, first of all, the media is like the creep that's responsible for the disappearance of his spouse, but then volunteers to lead the search party. You know, in this case, it's a disappearance of truth and they lied about everything, but they're offering their help.

You know, to expose the suspects, comb the fields, put flyers up on telephone poles. But the jig is up. It's not about left or right anymore. We know that you're the real killer, OJ. It's the media that fed the hoaxes that created this complete, I don't know, mental breakdown. Identity politics has to go, but it has this permanent flaw.

It can only work by telling you who isn't included as it tells you who is. When you look at the people that are important, it creates a hierarchy and it pisses people off. In this case, it was black men, Hispanic men. So how do you rectify this when you've raised a generation on basically junk food for your soul? It's toxic. I mean—

You have to admit, if you abandon it, you're going to lose a faction. But you know that it's a small faction. This is the Band-Aid that you actually have to pull off. They don't want to rip off the Band-Aid. For those of you who don't remember the Sister Soldier moment, it's critical you understand this. Please look it up.

It was when Bill Clinton was asked as president to condemn this rapper, Sister Soldier, who put out this song with these lyrics. And everybody told him, don't do it. You're going to offend this community, that community. Leave it alone. And he went out and did it. And you know what? He went out and did it. And a lot of Republicans and others were like, okay, I may not like the guy, but at least he did it. That's what a Sister Soldier moment is. It's when you do something that the right thing and not the easy thing. The media had that opportunity.

They didn't do it. And their credibility is now shit. Nobody believes them here. You want more evidence again? What has two thumbs and told you JD's the guy, this guy, here's a guy Benson tweet, how it started. Here's how it's going for JD Vance. He entered the race with the worst favorability ratings of any VP pick in the modern polling area. Leave that. Why is that? By the way, leave that up. Why not?

Not because of J.D. I told you, cut through the bullshit. This guy's amazing. He's going to be great. The media said he's weird. Well, how well did that stick? Double barrel, middle finger. It didn't. J.D. ended the campaign as the only candidate on either major ticket with a positive favorability score amongst the electorate. Extraordinary. Thank you, guy, but it's not extraordinary if you knew J.D.,

I told you what the media was going to do. And because nobody trusts these idiots anymore and everybody's laughing at them, J.D. went from being attacked as weird to people going, well, the media said he's weird, so that probably means he isn't weird. Let me look into it. Oh, wow, not only is he not weird, this guy's a really great candidate.

By the way, keep your eyes on this in Pennsylvania. They're trying to steal that Pennsylvania Senate race. I don't think they're going to be successful. But after the Norm Coleman, Al Franken debacle in Minnesota, I'm not so sure. Be very careful. Keep your eyes on Pennsylvania where Mark Elias and Bob Casey are trying to steal. I mean outright steal. Of course, they're election deniers. But keep your eye on as a tweet up about this. Their lawyers are actually in court right now.

arguing to count ballots of non-registered voters, unsigned mail-in ballots, mail-in ballots without dates, and ballots cast in a county where the voter does not live. In other words, illegal ballots. Why? Because that's what the Democrats do. They're election deniers. Be very careful about that race. Really, keep your eyes on it. Those people are the real election deniers.

Folks, thank you so much. Please tune in tomorrow. We got a producer show for you. It's going to be a great one. Download the Rumble app. Rumble has had an amazing week. We need your support. We need your support. We cannot do it without you. Download the Rumble app. Please go to the app store. It is free.

Watch us every day at 11 a.m. What do we have, 198,000 today? Did we reach 200? We were almost there. 198,000. We have the number one political live stream in the world, the Dan Bongino Show. We love having you here. 11 a.m. every day, Eastern Time. Join us. Also, please give us a follow on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. I'll see you here on the radio show in a little bit. It'll be a producer's show for you tomorrow. Don't miss it. See you then. You just heard the Dan Bongino Show.