Bongino makes podcast return in February amid war with anti-Trump ‘black-pillers’

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Former FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino will return to conservative broadcasting next month with a new two-hour daily show, reentering the media spotlight as he faces growing hostility from parts of the right over his role in the Trump administration and the Jeffrey Epstein controversy.

Bongino announced Monday that The Dan Bongino Show will relaunch on Feb. 2, airing weekdays from 10 a.m. to noon. The program will be livestreamed exclusively on Rumble and distributed across major podcast platforms, with Westwood One serving as the show’s exclusive sales partner.

The return follows Bongino’s yearlong stint as deputy director of the FBI under President Donald Trump, a role that required him to step away from his prior podcast early last year and team up with FBI Director Kash Patel to lead the bureau. In a statement, Bongino described his time at the FBI as “the honor of a lifetime” and said he helped initiate personnel and operational reforms.

The revived show will anchor a new weekday lineup on Rumble that also includes The Vince Coglianese Show in the morning and Scrolling with Hayley Caronia at midday. Bongino’s program will focus on Washington insights, behind-the-scenes details from his time in government, and what his team described as a message of “hope and resilience” for the conservative movement.

But Bongino’s return to the microphone comes amid a public and increasingly bitter feud with some former allies-turned-critics, who he has labeled the “black-pillers,” a term commonly used to describe right-leaning commentators who argue the system is irredeemably corrupt and resistant to reform.

Over the weekend, Bongino slammed those he considers unhelpful to the conservative movement on X, accusing them of manufactured online outrage and empty digital influence.

“Genuinely comical watching bad comedians and black-pillers flex, and then go live, and no one shows up,” Bongino wrote Saturday. “A microphone and a camera are only powerful if there are ears and eyes to hear and see on the other end.”

“Friends don’t let friends fall for bulls*** digital astroturfing chumps,” he said.

The comments were widely interpreted as a response to libertarian comedian and podcaster Dave Smith, who has sharply criticized Bongino over the administration’s handling of Epstein-related disclosures.

Bongino, who previously promoted theories suggesting Epstein was murdered and ran a criminal trafficking ring tied to powerful figures, drew backlash from critics online last year after he affirmed in a Fox News interview that Epstein died by suicide and that investigators had found no evidence of an organized pedophile network.

Smith accused Bongino of attempting to “police the right” without answering questions about Epstein or delivering what critics view as accountability for entrenched federal actors.

“So, Dan Bongino actually thought he was going to come back to podcasting and police the right without answering one question about the Epstein cover up and the FBI putting zero deep state arrests on the board,” Smith wrote Sunday. “Hilarious. I’m proud that none of us will let him live this down.”

The post received more than 1.3 million views and roughly 65,000 likes, underscoring the depth of the backlash from a segment of Bongino’s former audience.

Bongino has also been embroiled in a separate and unusually personal spat with former Republican Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz, another prominent figure in Trump-aligned politics who currently hosts a show on One America News Network and was once briefly considered to become Trump’s second-term attorney general.

In a lengthy post last week, Bongino accused Gaetz of being a “phony” and alluded to his attendance at “shady parties with monied insiders,” comments that followed Gaetz mocking Bongino’s electoral record and noting that he had lost three congressional races.

“Maybe if I spent more time at shady parties with monied insiders I would’ve won,” Bongino shot back, launching into a profane personal attack that referred to Gaetz as a grifter and questioned his character.

Gaetz responded by pointing to his refusal to accept PAC or lobbyist donations during his time in Congress and questioned why Bongino’s “white pill” message of optimism had devolved into personal insults.

The exchange revived scrutiny of Gaetz’s past legal troubles, including a federal investigation into allegations of sexual misconduct and drug use. Gaetz denied the claims, and prosecutors during the Biden administration ultimately declined to bring charges at the time.

The public feuds highlight a broader fracture within Trump-aligned media and activist circles, particularly between figures who entered government and those who remained on the outside demanding sweeping prosecutions and institutional purges.

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Bongino’s return to podcasting will test whether his audience is willing to follow him back after his time in federal law enforcement, or whether skepticism over Epstein and the FBI will continue to overshadow his message.

The first episode of the relaunched Dan Bongino Show is scheduled to air Feb. 2. The Washington Examiner contacted a representative for Bongino.

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