Disgraced Border Patrol commander Gregory Bovino has embarked on a bizarre social media charm offensive that almost immediately spiraled into a trainwreck.
The 55-year-old had been shut out of his X account last month after President Donald Trump cast him out of Minnesota in the wake of 37-year-old ICU nurse Alex Pretti’s killing by Border Patrol agents. He was reportedly muzzled at the time after Department of Homeland Security officials noticed he was publicly trolling and feuding with lawmakers over the shooting.
This week, however, he finally got the keys back to his X profile and dove right in on attacking his critics, taunting Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker with a threat to bring his agents back to Chicago. But after lobbing a Trumpian weight jab at Pritzker, Bovino was promptly swarmed by commenters mocking his own physical appearance, calling him a fascist, and urging him to seek therapy.
Bizarrely, Bovino took the time to reply to each insult directed his way, albeit not in a particularly scathing manner, relying instead on “Lol” and cringe jokes about pie.
The pile-on came after Bovino tried to push back against Pritzker’s call for him to lose his job, along with Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and Trump’s deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller, who have all faced backlash over the fatal shootings of two U.S. citizens.
Bovino reshared the post, saying, “Nah, gubner, too busy leading agents to arrest illegal aliens. Besides, Chicago may need another double-digit drop in a whole smorgasbord of violent crime, compliments of the Green Machine. Perhaps we could meet for a sugar-free slice of heirloom apple pie -on me!”
The “Green Machine” is what Bovino has frequently called his posse of masked border agents deployed around the nation’s interior as part of the administration’s deportation drive.
In a baffling reply to no one but himself, Bovino then said below, “Carnivore Homesteading—heck yes!!!!!!! Smokehouses are a lost art for the ardent homesteader. So are deep root cellers.”
“I nearly had a stroke reading that,” one person responded to Bovino’s original post.
“Are you tall enough to be on this app?” another X user asked, referring to his widely-reported diminutive stature.
“Please slip back into the s--thole that [you] snuck out of?” another begged.
“Hey Gestapo Greg!! Where have you been????” read another reply, apparently referencing Bovino’s controversial trench coat that some say resembles attire worn by Nazis.
Bovino became a MAGA social media star during his seven-month stint as the face of Trump’s deportation drive, which often saw him surrounded by a squad of agents stomping around city sidewalks and yelling at protesters.
Some commenters wished Bovino well on his return to the internet, however. One person even invited him and “the boys” around for some homemade pasta.
Trump’s border czar, Tom Homan, took over operations in Minnesota following Bovino’s ouster, which came against the backdrop of mounting horror at the scenes emanating from immigration enforcement operations in the state.
The Daily Beast did not immediately receive a response from DHS.
