The Dan Bongino Show – "They Want To Burn It All Down" (Ep. 2479)

Date: March 24, 2026
Host: Dan Bongino
Podcast Network: Cumulus Podcast Network

Episode Overview

In this episode, Dan Bongino delivers his signature no-nonsense, passionate analysis of current events, zeroing in on what he describes as the escalating efforts of the progressive left to “burn it all down”—fundamentally transform American politics, culture, and government. He discusses Democratic priorities, internal sabotage in the conservative movement, the stakes of the upcoming midterms, the corruption of political principles, the manipulation of information, and recent news stories that exemplify these broader trends. As always, Bongino's approach is combative, emotional, and heavily infused with humor, sarcasm, and personal anecdotes.

Key Themes & Insights

Mobilizing for the Midterms

[00:02–06:00]

• 10-10-10 Strategy: Bongino urges listeners to commit to grassroots activism before the midterms—emailing 10 people, calling 10 people, and posting on social media 10 times about voting.
  • “That’s all of our homework... We got to walk and juggle chainsaws at the same time... fighting the collectivist left who want us all in handcuffs, in jail, to steal all our money and take all our healthcare.” [00:02]

The Left "Saying the Quiet Part Out Loud"

[06:00–12:00]

• Democrats' Priorities: Bongino features Sen. Chris Murphy’s comment from MSNBC, highlighting that Democrats’ main concern is for “the undocumented Americans.”

  • Quote: “You are right that that [citizenship path] has been the Democratic strategy… it has failed to deliver for the people we care about most, the undocumented Americans…” —Chris Murphy [Clip, ~08:30]
  • Bongino’s reaction:
    “If you believe the real priority for the United States government should be illegal immigrants into the country, then vote for Chris Murphy. No, I’m serious. He’s your guy. He just said it. That’s a real priority.” [~09:10]

• "Foil Effect" in Politics: Bongino praises Donald Trump for effectively creating a sharp contrast between Republicans and Democrats, attracting minority voters.

  • “He’s created a foil effect… The media hype about the Republican party… Trump’s broken through that… made the party attractive again to a group of people who couldn’t give a damn 20–30 years ago…” [~06:40]

Lack of Principles in Leadership

[12:00–25:00]

• Chuck Schumer’s Non-Answers: Bongino slams Democratic leaders for lacking clear principles, using a clip of Schumer dodging whether degrading Iran’s military is a good thing.

  • Quote:
    “Is it good that Iran’s military infrastructure has been seriously [degraded]…?” —Scarborough
    Schumer: “You can’t… [it’s] a premature question… I think it’s a trick question…” [~16:00]
  • Bongino: “Holy Moses, man. He’s got to be freaking rescued by Chuck Scarborough. Joe Scarborough’s gotta be… Hey, Chucky. Chuck, it’s a good thing. You can say you don’t like Donald Trump, you don’t like his haircut. You think his foreign policy is shit… At least don’t bullshit me.” [~17:30]

• Double Standards for Foreign Policy: Bongino notes Dems’ willingness to support Ukraine but not action against Iran, despite Iran being a direct threat to Americans.

  • “War in Ukraine — Awesome! …Wanna-be nuclear power that just demonstrated ballistic missile capabilities…? Oh, we don’t want that funding.” [~24:10]

Weaponization of Legal Systems & the Dangers of Inaction

[29:00–32:30]

• Democrats will target Trump if they win:

  • Bongino warns the left is openly planning not only to defeat but to persecute Trump and his allies using legal means.
  • “Can you imagine? You got death to Iranian mullahs… They want to try Donald Trump… They’re telling you and yet you’ve got a group of shitheads… pseudo fake tough guys trying to invade our side and destroy it because they have a plan. This is what they want, Dan. They want the Democrats to win. Yes.” [~31:00]

• Seth Dillon’s Plan for Sabotage:

  • Bongino references a tweet by Seth Dillon (Babylon Bee) highlighting the left’s playbook: split the right, lose to the left, blame loss on right-wing unity, and then seek more power.
    • "They want to blame the loss on everyone who refused to join them in their sabotage of the movement… And then... justify gaining and abusing power down the road, doing exactly what the left did.” [~32:10]

Security, Crime, and Immigration

[32:30–41:00]

• Illegal Immigration Crime Data: Bongino rebuts the liberal argument that “illegals commit less crime,” contending crime is underreported in illegal communities and everyone who enters illegally is, by definition, a lawbreaker.

  • “There’s 100% crime rate — they’re in the country illegally… and a lot of crime goes unreported because the victims don’t want contact with police…” [~33:00]

• Case of Sheridan Gorman:

  • Bongino discusses the murder of Sheridan Gorman in Chicago, allegedly by a Venezuelan illegal released multiple times under Biden.
  • “Twice we had this guy. Twice… This guy, just by pure math, would likely have been stopped if Trump was in charge…” [~36:15]

Exposing Internal Sabotage & "Black Pill" Doomers

[41:00–67:00]

• Critique of Internal Saboteurs: Bongino rails against “doomers,” “black-pillers,” and “gatekeepers” within the right who accuse Trump and his allies of being manipulated or insufficiently tough.

  • Notable Candace quote: “Trump is just too stupid to realize they work for Miriam Adelson and Netanyahu and not him.” [~47:30]
  • Bongino: “You notice how this is like the same messaging as the left?” [~48:10]

• Hidden-Knowledge Grifting: He mocks those who claim to have secret knowledge about conspiracies but never provide evidence.

  • “It’s a data point… What’s the data? I don’t know… Maybe Igor or Ogre or little guy knows… You notice how these people do this, folks? They pick the worst heroes.” [~51:00]

• Joe Kent 'Double-Speak': Bongino exposes conflicting stances of Republican Joe Kent regarding Trump and Israel, highlighting opportunism and inconsistency.

  • “Here is Joe Kent on his Megyn Kelly interview telling you the exact opposite… Is it Joe 1 or Joe 2? ... He said, he’s saying that. Will the real one stand up again, please?” [~59:00]

Information Warfare & The Podcast Business

[67:00–78:00]

• Podcasting Under Siege: Bongino explains that financial pressures are causing podcasters (including some on the right) to chase controversy or change their message for monetary survival.
  • “The podcast space is getting really damaged right now. Bad...There’s a money squeeze going on right now.” [~75:00]

Election Integrity & Cheating

[78:00–89:00]

• Supreme Court Skepticism on Late Ballots: Covering breaking news that the Supreme Court is skeptical of states counting mail ballots arriving after Election Day.

  • “...Why would Democrats, not Republicans, Democrats want to extend an election from early voting to 30 days after election day? …Because ballots, not voters, win elections.” [~81:20]

• The Mechanics of Cheating: Detailed explanation of how ballot harvesting, long election periods, and limited enforcement encourage fraud, benefiting Democrats and incumbents with better resources.

Policing Election Laws & Calling Out Hypocrisy

[89:00–96:00]

• 'It’s Already Illegal' Argument:

  • Bongino responds sarcastically to Sen. Mazie Hirono’s argument that further anti-fraud safeguards are unnecessary because voting fraud is already illegal.
    • “Who is going to commit this kind of crime, fraud, knowing that they could be in prison for five years?” —Mazie Hirono [~92:15]
    • Bongino: “Murder is already illegal, correct? …And yet we still do more… because we want less.” [~93:00]

• Sen. Mike Lee’s Rebuttal:

  • Lee uses a traffic metaphor to argue for strengthening enforcement: “...it’s already against the law to run a stop sign. …That is directly, closely, tightly analogous to what they’re saying here.” [~94:45]

Media Manipulation & Disinformation

[96:00–99:00]

• Viral Video Out of Context: Bongino describes how a video of ICE arrest at an airport spread to make it appear Trump administration’s actions were the cause, when in fact the incident preceded new ICE deployments.

Authenticity and Grassroots Loyalty

[99:00–102:00]

• Rant from Tim Kramer: Bongino plays a viral video by Tim Kramer berating “Fairweather MAGA” types for failing to see Trump’s strategic struggles and being easily manipulated.
  • Quote:
    “Fairweather MAGA. Go fuck yourselves. For four years we suffered under Biden and all we wanted was the return of Trump. We get it. And you motherfuckers are the first to complain… Do you realize what Trump is doing right now? Our enemies… have some very powerful friends around the world. It's a big club, folks, and you're not in it.” [~100:00]

Notable Quotes and Memorable Moments

• "You got to walk and juggle chainsaws at the same time… fighting the collectivist left who want us all in handcuffs, in jail..." —Dan Bongino [00:04]
• "If you believe the real priority for the United States government should be illegal immigrants into the country, then vote for Chris Murphy." —Dan Bongino [~09:10]
• "It's not a slip... That's exactly what he means." —Dan Bongino on Chris Murphy [~09:45]
• "Holy Moses, man. He's got to be freaking rescued by Chuck Scarborough… At least don't bullshit me straight to my face." —Dan Bongino [~17:20]
• "Twice we had this guy. Twice… This guy, just by pure math, likely would have been stopped if Donald Trump was in charge." —Dan Bongino [~36:15]
• "None of these people have any real principles… They change their mind every five minutes because they want to attack Donald Trump and get power." —Dan Bongino [21:45]
• "You notice how this is like the same messaging as the left?" —Dan Bongino [~48:10]
• "These people are emulating the tactics of the left..." —Dan Bongino [~98:30]
• "I'm not asking you in political office again to be this Christlike figure... but at least don't bullshit me." —Dan Bongino [~62:00]
• "You have a choice. You have a choice. You can change your country..." —Dan Bongino [~68:30]
• "Ballots, not people, decide elections now." —Dan Bongino [81:45]

Important Segments & Timestamps

• Show Open, 10-10-10 Strategy: [00:02–06:00]
• Chris Murphy 'Quiet Part Out Loud': [07:00–10:30]
• Contrast Politics; Trump’s Appeal: [10:30–13:30]
• Schumer Dodges Iran Military Question: [15:30–18:30]
• Democrat Double Standards on Foreign Policy: [22:45–25:55]
• Seth Dillon's Tweet Exposed: [32:00–33:00]
• Crime and Illegal Immigration: [34:30–38:00]
• Candace Owens 'Gatekeeper' Tweet; Conspiracy/Black Pillers: [47:30–51:10]
• Joe Kent’s Israel Contradictions: [58:00–62:00]
• Podcast Space, Money Squeeze Explanation: [74:00–78:00]
• Supreme Court & Election Integrity: [81:00–83:00]
• Mazie Hirono 'Already Illegal' Segment: [92:00–94:30]
• Tim Kramer’s Viral Rant (Video): [100:00–101:30]

Summary in Bongino’s Tone

Bongino’s language is fiery, sarcastic, and unfiltered, oscillating between deep frustration and motivational fervor. He repeatedly underscores that the American left “tells you directly what they intend to do”—transform the country in ways he finds destructive—and that conservatives must fight both the external opposition and internal subversion by unserious or opportunistic voices on the right. Key points include highlighting Democrats’ priorities (illegal immigrants over citizens), exposing hypocrisy and contradiction among political elites (Schumer, Newsom, "Da Nang Dick" Blumenthal), and repeatedly calling attention to the left’s open intention to punish Trump and his allies.

He is especially concerned about the manipulation of information—whether through selective “data points” offered by conspiracy theorists or the viral spread of videos out-of-context by the left. His prescription: stay vigilant, unite, call out lies boldly (left and right), and stay mobilized through effective grassroots action heading into the midterms.

For those who haven’t listened:
This episode lays out the “war footing” Bongino believes is necessary for the conservative movement in 2026—a fight waged both against the progressive left’s policy agenda and against internal saboteurs. It’s a whirlwind tour of current news, conservative infighting, election vulnerabilities, and the erosion of political honesty—all delivered in Bongino's signature, take-no-prisoners style.