meta_pixel
Tapesearch Logo
Log in
What A Day

When The Conspiracy Theorists Become Bureaucrats

What A Day

Crooked Media

News, Daily News

4.612K Ratings

🗓️ 29 May 2025

⏱️ 21 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Before Kash Patel, Dan Bongino and Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. were prominent members of the Trump Administration (FBI Director, FBI Deputy Director and Health and Human Services Secretary, respectively), they were conspiracy theorists. But now that these men hold positions of power in the government, the various conspiracies they pushed are coming back to haunt them. Because their longtime supporters want them to act on all the wild claims they made. Will Sommer, a senior writer at The Bulwark and author of the 'False Flag' newsletter, talks about the tension within the online community that propelled these men to power.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

It's Thursday, May 29th. I'm Jane Koston, and this is what a day.

0:05.6

The show wondering what being trapped on a Delta flight from Minneapolis, Minnesota to Madison, Wisconsin must have been like for two pigeons.

0:13.0

Being a bird, trapped on an airplane must be profoundly confusing, is what I'm saying.

0:28.3

Music confusing is what I'm saying. On today's show, it's Pardon Palizza over at the White House.

0:32.8

And Elon Musk says President Donald Trump's big, beautiful bill undermines the work he did at Doge.

0:38.8

Sad. But let's start out by talking about conspiracy theories and the people who believe them.

0:44.8

I've reported on conspiracy theorists in their ideas for years. And before Cash Patel, Dan Bonjino,

0:50.1

and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. were prominent members of the Trump administration, as director of the FBI,

0:55.4

deputy director of the FBI, and Secretary of Health and Human Services, respectively, they were

1:00.5

conspiracy theorists. And now the conspiracies they pushed are coming back to haunt them,

1:05.1

in the sense that their fans are very upset that now that these men are in power, they're not doing

1:10.8

more about the

1:11.6

conspiracies they pushed to get there.

1:14.2

Tick Patel, who was on with Fox News's Brett Baer late Wednesday.

1:17.8

He was asked for what feels like the millionth time to explain why he believes financier and

1:22.3

sex offender Jeffrey Epstein died by suicide, despite for years raising questions about the case,

1:28.4

and why government officials weren't releasing what he called the Epstein files. Patel seemed annoyed about the whole thing.

1:34.3

But there is a lot of conspiracy theories out there. There are. The Epstein thing, you dealt with

1:38.6

Maria, you said, as far as you know, he killed himself. I'm telling you he killed himself.

1:43.6

He's telling you.

1:45.8

Bongino is facing the same problem.

1:48.1

Before he became Patel's deputy at the FBI,

...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Crooked Media, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Crooked Media and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.

Copyright © Tapesearch 2025.