Fox News has begun spinning narratives designed to rationalize President Donald Trump’s decision to fire Attorney General Pam Bondi.
The president announced Bondi’s firing on Thursday in a Truth Social post, writing, “Pam Bondi is a Great American Patriot and a loyal friend, who faithfully served as my Attorney General over the past year,” before revealing that she would be “transitioning to a much needed and important new job in the private sector.”
He also announced that Todd Blanche—Bondi’s deputy and Trump’s former personal lawyer—would be serving as acting attorney general.
Blanche defended Trump in the criminal trial over hush-money payments made to the adult actress Stormy Daniels that ended with the president being found guilty of falsifying business documents.
On Thursday evening’s edition of The Ingraham Angle, host Laura Ingraham sought to justify the president’s decision to fire Bondi just weeks after removing Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem from her role, replacing her with Sen. Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma.
“President Trump nevertheless had grown increasingly frustrated by other headlines like this,” Ingraham said, referring to critical news coverage of the Trump administration.
“Mistakes and redactions in the Epstein files, and then a supposed mistake in information turned over recently to Hill Democrats. But, perhaps, the most scathing criticism of Bondi was about her handling of the Epstein files.”
Under Bondi’s watch, the Trump administration endured significant backlash from both sides of the aisle for its handling of the release of the Epstein files, which included numerous errors and the accidental publication of sensitive information.
On Monday, MAGA chair of the House Oversight Committee James Comer admitted that the Department of Justice had “botched” the release of the files, telling CNN’s Jake Tapper, “I don’t think anyone in America, Republican or avid Trump supporter, would defend the way that this has been rolled out.”
“Obviously, there’s a lot of frustration on both sides of the aisle in Congress, as witnessed by the subpoena to Pam Bondi for a deposition on this very subject,” he continued.
Ingraham continued to make the case in support of the president’s decision to fire Bondi, telling viewers, “When White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles spoke to Vanity Fair last year about Bondi, the writing seemed to be on the wall. Wiles said she completely whiffed.”
Quoting Wiles, Ingraham said, “‘First, she gave them binders full of nothingness, and then she said the witness list or client list was on her desk. There is no client list, and it sure as well wasn’t on her desk.’”
“In Washington parlance,” Ingraham argued, “the ever-loyal Pam Bondi had become a political liability.”
Despite her harsh words for the ousted attorney general, Ingraham later said that she considered Bondi a friend.
“One day you’re up. The next day, you’re down. A lot of folks really like Pam Bondi. I consider her a friend. I think she is a patriot to this country. And she certainly has been extremely loyal to President Trump,” she told her guests, former DOJ lawyer Gene Hamilton and former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows. “But the frustrations on his part were impossible to ignore.”
Bondi herself attempted to put a positive spin on the situation, writing in a farewell post on X that she was “thrilled” to be returning to the private sector.
“Over the next month I will be working tirelessly to transition the office of Attorney General to the amazing Todd Blanche before moving to an important private sector role I am thrilled about, and where I will continue fighting for President Trump and this Administration,” Bondi’s post read.
“I remain eternally grateful for the trust that President Trump placed in me to Make America Safe Again.”
