Additional Coverage:
- Ana Navarro admits Pam Bondi is ‘completely different than person I knew’ as she responds to SNL (irishstar.com)
Ana Navarro Offers Candid Thoughts on Pam Bondi Following SNL Parody
During Monday’s episode of The View, political commentator Ana Navarro offered a candid assessment of former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi, particularly in the wake of a recent Saturday Night Live sketch. Navarro, who has known Bondi personally for many years, expressed her surprise at Bondi’s current public persona.
Navarro, a well-known political strategist and former Republican who has become a vocal opponent of the “MAGA agenda,” revealed a personal connection to Bondi. She explained that their paths have diverged significantly in recent years. “I’ve known Pam Bondi for a long time, I haven’t spoken to her obviously in a few years but, this is a completely different Pam Bondi than the person I knew in Florida who was an affable, nice [person],” Navarro remarked on the show.
Navarro’s own extensive history in Florida politics, including her role in Governor Jeb Bush’s 1998 transition team and immigration policy efforts, placed her in the same circles as Bondi during a different era when Bondi served as Florida’s Attorney General.
The discussion on The View centered around a recent Saturday Night Live parody featuring Amy Poehler and Tina Fey portraying Bondi and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. The panel noted Bondi’s seemingly positive reaction to the skit, including a social media post where she tagged Kristi Noem and wrote, “Should we recreate this picture in Chicago? Loving Amy Poehler?”
Navarro suggested that Bondi’s embrace of the parody indicated she “thinks it’s a good thing” to be parodied, despite “people skewering them and making fun of them.” She elaborated, “And probably, for her with the MAGA base and with Trump, it is a good thing.
I think being skewered and imitated on Saturday Night Live – we’ve all been imitated – is kind of like a rite of passage.” Navarro concluded that Bondi was likely “loving this” attention, believing it would “rais[e] her stock with the MAGA base.”
However, Navarro didn’t stop there, delivering sharp criticism of Bondi’s current political actions. “But, frankly I think what she’s doing to the institution of the DOJ and the oversight in Congress is shameful and embarrassment and is going to go down in history as one of the worst performances by an attorney general in front of Congress,” Navarro asserted.
Her co-host, Sara Haines, offered a differing perspective. Haines, known for her more moderate views, argued that Bondi’s reaction was pragmatic.
“I think the only way you can reply to comedy and look like you can take a joke is by doing what she did,” Haines stated. “I think the only way to handle jokes like that are so lean into them because otherwise you just look dumb.”