On Thursday, a former U.S. Secret Service agent who is running for a House seat and has written a book about his life in the Service cancelled his prescheduled appearance on MSNBC’s Bashir Live because of Martin Bashir’s suggestion that someone should defecate and urinate in former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin’s mouth.
Dan Bongino, who was a Secret Service agent under Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama, told Breitbart News that his appearance to speak on Bashir’s program about his book, Life Inside the Bubble, “was booked in advance of his unfortunate comments,” and he could not in good faith appear on the program.
“In light of these comments I felt it only appropriate to cancel my appearance on the show. Governor Palin took a principled chance on me during my U.S. Senate campaign when few would,” Bongino told Breitbart News. “She put herself out there for me, risking her political capital, and chose to endorse me because she believed in me.
“In a political arena filled with bad actors it was refreshing to know that Governor Palin was willing to fight for the underdog. She deserves better than the treatment she received by Mr. Bashir and I cannot, in good faith, appear on the show, regardless of the number of books it may or may not sell.”
Bongino is the author of Life Inside the Bubble, which is getting bipartisan interest thanks to recent scandals and the 50th anniversary of John F. Kennedy’s assassination. As of this writing, it is No. 39 on Amazon.com’s bestsellers list. Bongino, a candidate for Maryland’s Sixth Congressional District who has said he would go to Washington and not let the city change him, turned down a chance to promote himself and his book on Bashir’s show during a week in more people may be watching due to the controversy surrounding Bashir’s comments.
Bashir apologized on Monday for his remarks, saying they were “offensive” and wholly inappropriate,” but MSNBC has not taken any action against him despite the network’s past history of disciplining its on-air talent for “offensive remarks.” Palin’s political action committee SarahPAC sent a letter to MSNBC President Phil Griffin and NBC News President Deborah Turness, which Breitbart News exclusively obtained, that asked the network what action it would take against Bashir, especially given that the network suspended Alec Baldwin for anti-gay comments he made off of the air.
“You fired Don Imus for offensive language in describing the Rutgers University Women’s Basketball team, you suspended Alec Baldwin, and yet nothing has happened to Mr. Bashir,” the letter reads. “Are we to assume then, that disciplinary procedures at your network take place based on the target of the remarks rather than the remarks themselves?”
The letter concludes, “Americans deserve to know that your network doesn’t condone violent and hateful rhetoric directed at anyone, regardless of gender, sexual orientation, or political persuasion.”