Former FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino unloaded on the mainstream media, accusing many outlets of downplaying a historic drop in violent crime under the Trump administration.
Bongino said the FBI dramatically increased arrests of violent criminals, seized record amounts of drugs and captured several fugitives from the agency’s most wanted list. He said those achievements are being downplayed by the media.
“The murder rate is the lowest it’s been since 1900,” Bongino said Thursday on “Hannity.”
“By definition, there’s no modern precedent for that.”
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Bongino left the FBI earlier this month after serving as deputy director. He explained the role was intended as a roughly one-year effort to reorganize the bureau and refocus its priorities.
On Thursday, the Council on Criminal Justice released a report analyzing crime statistics from 40 major cities, finding that 11 of 13 crime categories dropped in 2025 compared with the year before. It also noted that violent crime overall fell to its lowest levels since 2019.
The report noted a “strong likelihood that once nationwide data for jurisdictions of all sizes is reported by the FBI later this year, the 2025 homicide level may be the lowest ever recorded,” citing records dating back to 1900.
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Bongino accused outlets such as Axios and The New York Times of acknowledging the crime drop while downplaying the Trump administration’s role. He said Axios acknowledged the low homicide rate but offered “excuses” for not crediting President Donald Trump.
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“There’s a thousand excuses as to why President Trump and his administration didn’t do it. Meanwhile, I lived it. I know what we did and didn’t do,” Bongino said.
The Axios article, published Jan. 22, notes that violent crime and homicides are down. It also says crime was “already falling to a two-decade low in Biden’s final year, calling into question whether Trump’s policies have made an impact.”
Bongino also criticized a New York Times headline that cited dozens of current and former employees alleging FBI Director Kash Patel is “Making America Less Safe.”
“Do you dipwads even read your own headlines?” he said of the Times, adding that he’s “so tired of these idiots.”
Bongino dismissed the criticism as coming from media figures he said lacked credibility, describing them as “people who’ve never spent a day wearing a badge.”
