Dan Bongino has wished “intestinal distress” on his enemies after the reaction to his softball interview with his former boss, FBI Director Kash Patel.
Bongino, 51, left his job as deputy director at the FBI in January to return to host his own far-right podcast, The Dan Bongino Show. He releases multiple episodes each week with titles including “No Dudes in Dresses” and “Kid Rock > Sad Bunny.”
Patel began his Wednesday interview with Bongino by gushing about his former sidekick, “Dan we miss you, congratulations on the relaunch of your epic show, America needs it.”
In addition to repeatedly thanking Trump (Bongino’s first guest this year), the pair constantly praised each other during the 23-minute interview. “I think you and I did a pretty good job, but you know, it really isn’t hard when you focus on the bad guys,” Bongino said.
“It’s not hard to do the job you signed up for when you’re allowed to do the job you signed up for,” Patel replied.
CNN host Jake Tapper pointed out on X that the soft-touch interview was due to the fact that it was, “The director of the FBI interviewed by his own former deputy director of the FBI.”
Bongino did not directly name names when he posted on his X account on Wednesday to insist he was “elated” his interview with Patel had “p---ed off all of the right media people.”
Bongino’s unhinged X post continued, “I thoroughly enjoy watching you all rage out and claw at your own faces, along with your daily burning sessions of me in effigy as I destroy your bulls--t narratives.”
Using the German word for taking pleasure in someone else’s distress, Bongino said, “schadenfreude is probably wrong, but I gently hope that all of my shows moving forward cause you the same anguish and intestinal distress.”
During his interview, which did not address any of Patel’s on-the-job controversies, including using the FBI jet for his own private use, the FBI chief also lashed out at the coverage of his tenure. “I think the media knows how successful this FBI has been,” he said. “And they hate that it’s this FBI that delivered it and not the prior administration’s FBI.”
He then claimed he and Bongino were treated like heroes when they travelled around the U.S. last year.
“People came up to us, moms and pops from every town,” Patel claimed. “And said, ‘Thank you to you and this Trump administration for keeping our kids safe and keeping murderers off the streets and keeping drugs out of our communities and letting our children have a safe environment to grow up in.’”
The interview also saw Patel reveal that Donald Trump handpicks which intelligence from the FBI he wants to follow as it suits him.
“You know why it’s called the President’s Daily Briefing? Because the president decides what are the intel priorities in that briefing,” Patel said.
“And President Trump has decided what intel priorities are agencies like the FBI and CIA are to act upon,” he continued.
