OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
Leading conservative podcaster and entrepreneur Dan Bongino opened up to SiriusXM host Megyn Kelly again for the second time in a few months regarding the failures and successes in his career since leaving the Secret Service.
Kelly and Bongino were discussing the latter’s new book, “The Gift of Failure,” when he began to emotionally delve into his life growing up as, according to him, below average in terms of looks, physical ability, and other aspects of life.
“That’s not me anymore,” he said after describing how singer/songwriter Tracy Chapman’s 1990s monster hit “Fast Car” really impacted him.
“People like you who know me and you see me now and never saw me growing up would have known a totally different kid,” he continued, adding that he got into boxing and Brazilian ju-jitsu not out of a natural skill but because he got beat up when he was 12 in New York City by a smaller kid.
“I said to myself, ‘I’m not gonna be that kid anymore,'” Bongino explained. “I’m not ever gonna negotiate from a point of weakness, physically, for the rest of my life. … I’m actually glad I was an insecure, vulnerable kid, because that’s the only reason I am the way I am now.”
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In May, Bongino broke down in tears discussing with Kelly the day he found out he had cancer and the uphill battle it has been since that day in 2020.
He also spoke about his departure from Fox News in late April, which left many confused, given it came around the same that Fox cut ties with top-rated host Tucker Carlson.
Bongino said he left the network over a difference in vision for his show.
“I think a lot of people think this may be some kind of anti-Trump thing. I gotta say — that wasn’t my case,” Bongino said.
“I was not targeted. My show, they were dying to re-up — we negotiated for an entire year. So I can’t tell you like, ‘Oh, Fox got rid of me,’ because they didn’t. The liberal jerk wads are gonna go, ‘Oh, Dan Bongino was fired.’ I just give them the middle fingers. It’s just stupid,” Bongino said.
“I negotiate my own deals. I don’t have an agent. I do my own business deals. I don’t need any, I do my own business. They wanted the show. I just had a different vision for my role at the network, and that’s okay. I’m not the Saturday guy, Megyn. I’m sorry I can’t work six days a week. I’ve got young kids, and I’m not working six days a week. And even though we recorded the show on Friday, you know, the inside baseball of Fox, what happens when there’s breaking news? Which with Trump out there is all the time — you gotta be on,” Bongino concluded.
Bongino said Fox’s offer to him included a clause that required him to be on call anytime to cover breaking news, which he was not interested in.
“It’s hard — so I couldn’t do it. And I said, ‘I’m sorry, that’s not gonna work out.’ So I definitely was not fired. Liberals are just making that up… but I’m not the easiest guy to deal with, Megyn,” Bongino said.
“And the thing, I think your success out there on your own has bought you is freedom. Money buys freedom,” Bongino told Kelly.
“I was in a position with them where I could walk away from a show on Fox and say, ‘I’m sorry, that’s not my vision.’ And it’s different. But someone told me later that, you know, in the end, they weren’t that eager the last few weeks to make this thing work because, ‘you could be a little aggravating to work with,’ and they’re not wrong,” Bongino added.
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