On Wednesday, Attorney General Pam Bondi took part in a televised White House Cabinet meeting with President Donald Trump and other senior members of his administration.
“Your first 100 days has far exceeded that of any other presidency in this country,” she gushed to Trump. She also claimed that Trump’s policies had prevented “258 million deaths”—which would be 75% of the population of the entire country—because fentanyl has been confiscated at the border.
As strange as Bondi’s proclamations were, based on her activities since she was confirmed on Feb. 4, it was odd that these exaggerations and falsehoods didn’t occur during a Fox News interview. Because Bondi has lived on the right-wing propaganda network.
Pam Bondi speaks during a cabinet meeting at the White House on April 30.According to a Media Matters for America analysis of television appearances that was provided to Daily Kos, Bondi has shown up 24 times on Fox News between Feb. 5 and April 28. The intense volume of Bondi appearances stands in stark contrast to her immediate predecessor, former Attorney General Merrick Garland.
In his first 100 days on the job in 2021, Garland made one media appearance, speaking to ABC’s “Good Morning America” on April 20, 2021.
Bondi, on the other hand, can be seen all across the Fox News family of programming.
She made four appearances on “Hannity,” two appearances each on “Fox & Friends,” “America Reports,” and “America’s Newsroom.” She even took time out of her day—ostensibly while running the entire Department of Justice—to sit down with conspiracy theorist Maria Bartiromo on “Sunday Morning Futures” and legal crackpot Mark Levin on “Life, Liberty & Levin.”
Bondi kept her views within the Fox News echo chamber. Media Matters did not find any Bondi appearances on broadcast television (ABC, CBS, NBC), other than Fox’s “Fox News Sunday,” and she did not appear on CNN or MSNBC.
What sort of things is Bondi discussing in these appearances?
In March, she complained to Bartiromo that Democratic Rep. Jasmine Crockett of Texas was speaking before “Hands Off” protesters outside of Tesla dealerships, opposing the influence of billionaire Trump donor Elon Musk.
Bondi argued that vandalism at Tesla dealerships was “domestic terrorism” and said Crockett needed to “tread very carefully” while exercising her right to free speech.
Then in April, Bondi told Sean Hannity that Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the Maryland father who was abducted and deported to an El Salvador prison, is “a terrorist” and a member of the MS-13 gang, allegations that have not stood up to legal scrutiny.
Bondi’s residency at the network ties in well with her recent stint dressing up and cosplaying like a scientist to push the administration’s “tough on crime” narrative. Like her fellow Cabinet member, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, the Trump team is heavy on appearances over reality.
Trump picked Bondi to lead the Justice Department because, like Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Bondi made a name for herself as a television talking head on Fox News. After her Senate confirmation, Bondi is still effectively a Fox News pundit, but now she has the power of the White House and the federal government behind her and is using that to pursue and denigrate Trump’s political rivals and detractors.
When Americans are curious what the head of the country’s senior law enforcement agency is up to, odds are they can find her on Fox instead of doing her job.
Published with permission of Daily Kos