Dan Bongino, the former deputy director of the FBI, slammed claims that there is a culture of both left- and right-wing political violence. His comments came in the aftermath of the shooting at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, where a Democrat from California allegedly traveled to Washington, D.C., in an attempt to assassinate Trump administration officials.
Bongino argued that the broader culture of political violence is primarily an issue on the left, contending that figures who use extreme, violent rhetoric, like Hasan Piker, have been normalized, and that years of blatantly false portrayals of the president have contributed to an environment in which some individuals are driven to violence. He argued that there is no comparable example on the right.
Dan Bongino just knocked it out of the park: “There is no both sides, folks. Stop telling yourself that!”
— Overton (@overton_news) April 26, 2026
He shattered the “both sides” narrative on political violence and laid out the biggest difference between the modern left and right.
BONGINO: “Listen, having been an agent… pic.twitter.com/TZoUjCZAq6
"Listen, having spent a good amount of time in a protective intelligence squad where you actually go out and interview these people who threaten the president, I think there's an assumption on the left where there's no shame in threatening the president's life," Bongino said. "So this isn't a both sides thing. So we can just cut that garbage out right now and just stop the nonsense."
"On the right, okay, on any respected kind of mainstream figure on the right, if you were to go out and even imply someone should be physically hurt on the left for their ideas, you're almost instantly shamed out of the movement," the former deputy director of the FBI said. "There is no such corresponding effect on the left."
You just mentioned the name. I don't even want to mention this guy's name because he's such a zero, but he's out there implying that, you know, physical violence is okay and is a means of fighting back against a man or systemic discrimination, whatever crap they throw out there. Is there no shame? You're welcomed in open arms on mainstream left-wing podcasts where they're like: Hey, come on in and spew this bile out there. There is no such corresponding movement on the right.
"There is no both sides, folks. Stop telling yourself that. It's not true," he added. "You would never be allowed on this network. You work here. I've worked here a long time. You would never be allowed in this network, even joking around about that stuff. You'd be gone. They'd pull you off mid-segment. They don't allow that stuff. It's not a both-sides thing. It is garbage."
This comes as the gunman at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner is considered the fourth assassination attempt against the president, as the left has refused to tone down their rhetoric, continuing to describe him as a Nazi, an authoritarian, and a fascist.