Dan Bongino fired back at Donna Brazile over reports that Russia had offered bounties to Afghan terrorists for killing coalition troops — including Americans.
Bongino and Brazile squared off Tuesday during a heated segment on Fox News’ “The Five,” discussing those reports and the White House’s response — namely that President Donald Trump had not been briefed on that intelligence because it had not been verified. (RELATED: ‘Don’t You Dare Be A Fraud Right Now!’: Dan Bongino And Geraldo Rivera Trade Barbs Over Rayshard Brooks)
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Fox News host Pete Hegseth, who subbed for regular host Jesse Watters after some technical difficulties, addressed the issue first. Arguing that the reported bounties were not sufficient to send American troops back in to further entanglements in Afghanistan, Hegseth added, “I also think we should believe the White House when they say the president wasn’t briefed on this and maybe the intelligence wasn’t where it should be.”
Fox Business host Lisa Kennedy then turned the question to Brazile, noting that former President Barack Obama had set the stage for the current relationship with Russia. “Do you think that President Obama did it right in terms of Russia and will Joe Biden continue that?” she asked.
Brazile challenged Kennedy, saying, “Here’s what I want to say. I understand that every time you have a conversation that Donald Trump is to blame for something you have to bring it back to Barack Obama, George Bush, or Abraham Lincoln. I don’t really care.”
“President Trump has now known for four days that the Russians may have spent money to try to kill our troops, four days,” Brazile continued, turning back to President Donald Trump. “What are you going to do about it, Mr. President? Are you going to let Mr. Putin kill our troops?”
Brazile concluded by saying that American soldiers’ lives were too important to be political footballs, adding, “I can tell you as the daughter of a veteran, if I knew somebody put a bounty on somebody serving in my military I would not be sitting here trying to play some game. Get off your behind and address it, I have to say that.”
“Donna, that was nice but you refuted your own point,” Bongino replied, noting that she had said what she would do if she knew of such a bounty placed on American troops — and that the intelligence community had been at odds over whether the report was accurate.
“This is why you don’t make decisions based on information that’s not confirmed,” Bongino concluded. “You refuted your own point.”