After Donald Trump announced that White House border czar Tom Homan would replace Border Patrol commander Greg Bovino in overseeing operations in Minnesota, the administration’s official line was that Bovino wasn’t being demoted. On the contrary, officials said, Bovino was still held in the highest regard.
“Mr. Bovino is a wonderful man, and he’s a great professional,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters earlier this week. “He is going to very much continue to lead Customs and Border Patrol throughout and across the country.”
Her comments might’ve led some to believe that Bovino remained in the administration’s good graces. Evidence to the contrary emerged soon after.
For example, Bovino this week lost control of his own social media account. Soon after, Trump derided the CBP’s commander-at-large during a Fox News interview.
“You know, Bovino is very good, but he’s a pretty out there kind of a guy,” the president said.
As a rule, these are not the words of a president who has great confidence in an official. They’re also not the kind of comments one would expect from a president describing someone who’ll be around for a long while.
Bovino brought these embarrassments upon himself. His recent record has included one scandalous development after another. And after federal immigration agents fatally shot Alex Pretti, Bovino helped take the lead in trying to smear the victim, telling reporters the ICU nurse intended to “massacre” law enforcement personnel.
That might very well have been his final mistake, but given Bovino’s documented record of lying about his work on behalf of the United States, it falls to Trump to explain why he chose this “out there kind of a guy” to help oversee Customs and Border Patrol in the first place.
As for Bovino’s future, The Atlantic, in an article that hasn’t been independently verified by MS NOW, published a report late Monday that said, “Gregory Bovino has been removed from his role as Border Patrol “commander at large” and will return to his former job in El Centro, California, where he is expected to retire soon, according to a DHS official and two people with knowledge of the change.”
