Dan Bongino gets into podcasting war with Tucker Carlson over new claims about Trump’s Butler shooting

Dan Bongino gets into podcasting war with Tucker Carlson over new claims about Trump’s Butler shooting The feud was ignited after Tucker Carlson claimed on a podcast that Dan Bongino told him the president shut down the investigation into the assassination attempt in 2024 - Bookmark - CommentsGo to comments Former deputy FBI director Dan Bongino and Tucker Carlson are in the midst of an all-out podcast war over claims about the investigation into the assassination attempt on Donald Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania. The feud was ignited after Carlson, a Trump loyalist-turned-fierce critic, claimed on a podcast that Bongino told him the president was the one to shut down the investigation into the shooting, which took place at a presidential campaign rally on July 13, 2024. “I know that Trump shut down the investigation into Butler,” Tucker claimed Thursday on Mario Nawfal’s podcast. “That is a fact. Dan Bongino told me that when he worked at the FBI. And Dan Bongino himself was terrified when I spoke to him in December.” A visibly furious Bongino hit back Friday on The Dan Bongino Show and said that accusing him and Trump of a cover-up into the president’s own assassination attempt was “seriously one of the most delusional things” he’d ever seen. Carlson is one of many MAGA figures to accuse the Trump administration of a “cover-up” without any hard evidence as questions about gunman Thomas Matthew Crooks’s motive and his political leanings remain unanswered. In a final report on the shooting published at the end of last year, the FBI concluded that Crooks acted alone when he shot at Trump, clipping the top of his ear, and killing supporter Corey Comperatore. FBI Director Kash Patel said the president was “fully briefed” and “satisfied” with the report, effectively drawing a line under the matter. Around the same time, Carlson claimed he exchanged text messages with a “clearly terrified” Bongino, informing the FBI deputy director that he came into possession of Crooks’s social media posts. He said the FBI had “lied” about their existence. “When I brought this information to his attention and he became a different person,” Carlson said of Bongino. “He was clearly terrified. I didn’t get it at first, but he was hysterical. And ultimately, after a long series of text exchanges, which I still have, and phone conversations, he said, look, take it up with Trump,” he continued. “He’s the one who shut down the investigation.” Bongino said Carlson was “lying” and showed what he purported were text messages the pair exchanged last year. “He doesn't realize, like, I have these texts too,” Bongino said. “I never do this, but if you're going to refer to text [allegedly] committed a crime, I'm putting out there…” In the messages the MAGA podcast host showed to his viewers, none appeared to corroborate Carlson’s claims. The Independent has not verified the text messages. Bongino also pointed to a Fox News report from November 2025 where an FBI official told the outlet the investigation into the shooting was in a “pending, inactive” status but the bureau would investigate any “credible leads.” “Now he says the investigation was shut down,” Bongino said of Carlson. “Yet here it is on the record in November again.” While many of Trump’s supporters initially viewed his survival of the shooting as an act of divine intervention, right-wing influencers such as Tim Dillon and Carlson, have pushed the unfounded theory that the assassination attempt was “staged.” The White House has previously trashed the conspiracy theories. “President Trump is standing stronger than ever as he continues to ‘fight, fight, fight’ for the American people,” a spokesperson said in an earlier statement. “Only a fool would believe otherwise.” Join our commenting forum Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies Comments