I firmly but kindly informed Dan Bongino I was going to whip his ass if he didn’t behave during our interview. He dutifully listened quietly and respectfully. Then answered my questions for the next 40 minutes.
If you believe that, you’re going to gobble up the rest of this piece.
In the 1990s, Bongino was a New York police officer. Later, he became a Secret Service Agent. He ran for Congress three times, then pivoted to right-wing commentary. Now he hosts one of the most successful radio shows in the country. Last month, Unfiltered with Dan Bongino, was the #1 cable news prime program with total viewers and the 25-54 demo on Saturdays.
Steven Spielberg couldn’t find funding for a script like that. Nobody would believe the yarn.
Switching gears from being a Secret Service agent to a radio talker is like a garbage collector choosing to become a ballerina. Both seem absurd, but in Dan Bongino’s case, very real.
In 2006, Bongino joined the elite Presidential Protective Division during the administration of President George W. Bush. He became one of the earliest tenured agents to be given responsibility for an operational section of the presidential detail and he remained on protective duty with President Obama.
Yes, Bongino told me he would have taken a bullet for President Obama in the line of duty. We didn’t discuss if he’d do that today as he’s a radio host.
So, what do listeners seek when they tune in to Bongino’s show?
“I can only speculate and go by their feedback,” Bongino said. “I rely on my Facebook page and email from my website to get a better idea of how they’re reacting to my show.”
Bongino said when he started his own show he was given a ton of ‘advice’ from radio professionals. Suggestions Bongino dumped right in the circular file.
“They told me, ‘Don’t read all the feedback, you’ll go crazy.’ I read the feedback.’ I find the feedback to be incredibly instructive. Most often I’ll hear the comment, ‘You tell it like it is.’ I guess I do. A lot of that has to do with me not growing up in the business. I’m a business owner, tech investor. Radio came later. I’ve seen all these worlds with my own two eyeballs, and heard with my own two ears.”
Those experiences have helped make him an explosive, controversial voice on the radio. The man could make Andre the Giant cringe in a fetal position.
“I enjoyed my time with the Secret Service,” Bongino said. “It was my dream job. What I always wanted was to be a Federal Agent and it was tough to leave.”
I’m still a little vexed at how you go from taking a bullet for a president to sitting in front of a microphone. Radio is a tough industry, but c’mon.
“I didn’t like the idea that we were losing the country after Obama’s election. I felt like an eagle had his talons in me,” Bongino explained. “I had a hard time sitting around, just swallowing what was going on around me. I felt I had to do something. I had a comfy Federal job. Why would I give that up? It’s not like you’re going to get fired unless you do something stupid. Like a lot of people, I felt helpless. I decided I didn’t want to go six feet deep without taking a shot.”
In radio or on the Secret Service job?
Bongino did some appearances on local radio. They must have gone well as he was asked to parlay his popularity on a weekend gig at WMAL.
“It wasn’t my own show, but I was one of the regular hosts,” he said.
With the appearances on WMAL going well, an astute PD recognized the kids’ talent and Bongino started guest-hosting on WCBM, and WBAL.
“Things were going well and I got what you’d call my big break.”
Actually, Bongino created his own big break. Huge break. Monumental break.
“I was listening to Neal Boortz fill in for Hannity and thought that would be fun,” Bongino said. “I called Lynda McLaughlin from the Sean Hannity show and asked her if I could host at some point.” He made the call from the privacy of his basement so he wouldn’t be interrupted. McLaughlin asked if he could come up the following week.
Hell yes I can!
I’m imagining that’s how he got his job with the Secret Service. He watched Clint Eastwood in Line of Fire and figured, that looks like fun. I’ll give them a call.
I told him his call to McLaughlin required balls the size of grapefruits.
“What other sizes of balls are there?” Bongino joked. (Or was he joking?)
After the call, he started filling in for Hannity. To be fair, Bongino had some familiarity with McLaughlin.
“I’d done a number of guest spots with Fox, so she knew who I was. It wasn’t like Tom from New Jersey just called Lynda and asked if he could host. She took a shot on me and it was a risky call. I’ll always be grateful to her.”
That’s a huge fill-in gig. Like Carrot Top filling in for Johnny Carson. Bongino said he liked Hannity’s crew and has since grown to know them well. Not long after that, Bongino started his own podcast, The Dan Bongino Show.
“I started the podcast by putting 10,000 on my credit card. Got a producer.”
Bongino filled in for Mark Levin and his voice and face were gaining worldwide recognition.
Then, a big loss for conservative radio when Rush Limbaugh died.
“After Rush passed, way too soon, I was called and asked how I’d feel to take over that slot. Notice I didn’t say his show.”
Limbaugh worked for Premiere, but some may have seen it the other way around. The former NYC cop and Secret Service agent would be taking over 300 affiliates. It was easily one of the biggest launches in the history of radio.
“I remember every second of that first day,” Bongino said. “I’d been filling in for Levin and Hannity, and a contributor for Fox for 10 years. I was excited, but I wasn’t nervous. It’s the cliche, you never forget how to ride a bike.”
Only this bike had Honus Wagner and Babe Ruth cards in the spokes.
Conservatism is what matters to Bongino. The money and fame have come with the territory, but they’re not what he thinks about in the morning when his feet hit the ground of the floor on his immensely expensive home.
Bongino was full of excitement when he was tapped to take over Rush’s time slot, not show. He was adamant about informing Rush’s audience about some ground rules.
“I said in the first open if they thought I was there to replace Rush, they should tune out at that moment because I can’t. I told them, ‘Seriously, go listen to another show. I can’t replace the MVP of the league for the last 20 years. Rush invented the game of conservative audio. If you’re looking for someone to replace him, let’s break up right here, rip the Band Aid off and get over it right now.’”
Nobody seemed to listen to Bongino.
“I was there and stayed because I wanted to. Financially, I’ve done fine on my own. I still ask myself how somebody replaces Rush Limbaugh.”
Don’t ask Yankee Wally Pipp. It turned out pretty well for Lou Gehrig.
“The second ground rule was to honor the man’s legacy, to never embarrass him.”
Those are huge shoes to fill. Jimmy Fallon is no Johnny Carson. Then again, Fallon’s not even a Pat Sajack.
“I suck compared to Rush,” Bongino said. “He could talk for an hour about a firefighter’s uniform, how cool the buttons are on the sleeves. It’s a gift. I think my show is good or I wouldn’t waste listeners’ time. But it’s not as good as Rush’s. Rush was AAA ball and I’m AA. I’m fine with that. He was a guy that consumed his product. He’d go on for hours about technology. I can barely turn off my phone. I ask my wife to download apps for me because I don’t know how the hell to do it.”
Bongino said everything he does on the air is intuitive. His style is different.
“I never wanted to clone Rush. I think he was more optimistic than I am. He had more patience with people.”
Still, Bongino said he shares some traits with Limbaugh.
“We both had the passion. Rush could have walked away anytime he wanted. He had ‘stupid money.’ (We acknowledged there is another popular term for that kind of money.) Rush probably didn’t know how much was in his bank account. We both love what we do. There’s an energy to live radio you can’t find anywhere else. Podcasts are great, but you can edit, alter the product. On the radio we’re live, working without a net. It’s a unique platform.”
Bongino said he was grateful for the seven-second delay.
“There are some things I’ve said that I probably shouldn’t have,” he smiled through the phone. “People call me and ask if it’s ‘still radio’ the way we knew it. Those who listen to me know what we call radio is really an audio delivery mechanism. When I first started, people would sit you down and say, ‘I want to coach you; You shouldn’t say ‘folks’ on the radio, don’t ever tell anyone what you’re going to talk about for the rest of the show, don’t tell people what you did on the weekend, they don’t care.’”
Trust me, he doesn’t.
If you’ve been paying attention, what do you think Bongino did with that advice from PDs, and management? He did everything they suggested he not do. What else did you expect?
Rush’s listener base was ridiculous. It sounds weak and lame, but we’re all independent thinkers. We’d go to Rush to get grounded. Dana, Clay and Buck are all great voices, but I think they’d tell you the same thing. We’d tune into Rush at noon as you’d tune into the Godfather of radio. Voices are fragmented now, but there are some great voices out there.”
After our conversation about radio ran its course, I had one nagging question. Would Bongino really take a bullet for a president?
“Yes, absolutely,” he said. And I believe him. “But bravery isn’t in taking the bullet. You’re going to do that by instinct. You train for that. It’s kind of like a football game. Everybody on the presidential detail has a figurative number, a play. With that number, the offensive tackle does what they’re supposed to do. The fullback goes through the fourth hole. You’re just going to do it. You’re not going to bitch about it. You’re not going to celebrate a good play.”
Bongino said the bravery was in choosing the career, to instinctively go in front of a person and risk your life.
“We call it an ‘assault on the principle,’” he said. “We go over it so much, it’s a natural reaction. You’re not going to think about it. It’s reflexive. We do a lot of training to distinguish between a balloon popping and a round of ammunition. You learn to discriminate between the sounds. I’m not saying it’s easy, but you learn.”
You think criticism of a PD or a listener is going to phase him? Think again. The man trained to run in front of an assailant, akin to the heroes at Normandy.
Not one single person was surprised when they heard Bongino wanted to be a NYC cop. Not a single person on earth was surprised to know he wanted to be in the Secret Service.
“When it came to a career in radio, it was the inverse reaction,” Bongino explained. Everyone was like, ‘What the hell?’ I never talked about politics. I guess I got fed up with all the cancel-culture dipshits.”
Is it hard to handle the accolades from having a huge national presence?
“My Aunt Jane told me once that self-praise stinks. I’ve always been cautious about that. I know I’ve taken a lot of chances in my life. What the hell, it’s those chances that make interesting stories.”
“All the stories I’m telling you are born out of apocalyptic failures,” Bongino said. “Failure is a gift forcing you to try something different.”
