Dan Bongino, the right-wing podcaster who built a massive following by vilifying the FBI and alleging deep-state conspiracies, is returning to conservative media after stepping down as the bureau’s deputy director in less than a year, only to face growing skepticism and anger from parts of the audience that once celebrated his rise as a victory against Washington elites, with critics accusing him of failing to expose alleged corruption or deliver on claims surrounding cases such as Jeffrey Epstein’s death, prompting conservative commentator Evan Kilgore to say, “People feel conned here.
Literally NOTHING has changed,” even as Bongino dismisses detractors as cynical “black pill” critics of President Donald Trump’s administration and insists they are undermining their own side, asking in a recent interview, “Complaining and whining all the time. … It’s just like: Man, what team are you on?”
Bongino’s reentry into the online media world will test whether conservative audiences still embrace a figure who once profited from antiestablishment fury but now defends the administration he served, with former allies warning that his credibility has been weakened by his time in government, including fellow podcaster Kyle Seraphin, who said Bongino is “cornered by his own words and actions” after years of attacking the FBI only to become part of its leadership, a dilemma that reflects a broader struggle for MAGA figures who gained influence through conspiratorial rhetoric and skepticism toward institutions before assuming positions of power and becoming targets of similar distrust.
Bongino announced that “The Dan Bongino Show” will return on Feb. 2 under an exclusive live-streaming deal with Rumble, which promised “a renewed focus on Washington insights, behind-the-scenes details from his time in government, and a message of hope and resilience in the conservative movement,” with Rumble CEO Chris Pavlovski saying the comeback is “great for public discourse and great for Rumble,” though Bongino has avoided addressing some of the most controversial issues that fueled his past popularity, including Epstein, whose death he once described as a “tick burrowing under my skin” before later stating, “He killed himself. I’ve seen the whole file. He killed himself,” an about-face that outraged many supporters and drew comments such as, “None of #BonginoArmy peeps believe this.”
As Bongino positions himself as a gatekeeper for the conservative mainstream and attacks critics as “digital astroturfing chumps,” analysts say he faces a difficult balancing act between maintaining an image of insurgent outsiderness and leveraging his ties to state power, with journalism professor A.J. Bauer noting that Bongino is trying to “convey an aesthetic of insurgent outsiderness while also using the associations he has with the state to leverage and build credibility,” even as high-profile critics like Dave Smith argue that Bongino must explain whether he was “lying then or lying now,” a controversy Bongino has brushed off by highlighting the attention his return is generating, writing on X, “The engagement is absolute🔥.”