Ana Navarro: Bondi not an ‘ogre’ or ‘jerk’

“The View” co-host Ana Navarro in a recent interview praised President-elect Trump’s tapping of former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi to head the Justice Department (DOJ), after former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) removed himself from consideration for the role.

“I know Pam Bondi very well. Pam Bondi, like many other Republicans, is a mainstream Republican who turned MAGA,” Navarro, a CNN contributor and GOP strategist, said Thursday in an interview on “AC360.”

“I will tell you: She is not an ogre. She is not a jerk,” she continued. “She’s not a person who purposely wants to come across as being the kind of person that Matt Gaetz wants to come across as being.”

Navarro noted Bondi was an early loyalist of Trump, backing him since the 2016 primaries — even as Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (R) were in the running.

“I think with Pam Bondi, he gets loyalty, which matters a lot to him,” she told host John Berman.

Her remarks came the same day Gaetz withdrew from consideration after meeting with Senate Republicans amid an uphill battle to win them over. Following his decision, Trump announced he would pick Bondi — who served as the Sunshine State’s top prosecutor from 2011-19 — for attorney general.

“She is smart and tough, and is an AMERICA FIRST Fighter, who will do a terrific job as Attorney General!“ Trump wrote on Truth Social.

Bondi was on Trump’s defense team during the then-president’s first impeachment. The Florida Republican is also the chair of the Center for Litigation at the America First Policy Institute. 

Navarro contrasted Bondi to Trump’s other Cabinet picks. 

Former Fox News host Pete Hegseth, whom Trump picked to be his Defense secretary, was accused of sexual assault in 2017, an allegation that he strongly denied.

Other controversial choices are anti-vaccine advocate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as head of the Department of Health and Human Services, and former Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard to serve as director of national intelligence, despite her alleged ties to Russia.

Navarro said Bondi is one of Trump’s “better picks.”

“She hasn’t been accused of sexual assault. She hasn’t sawed the head off a whale or stabbed a dead bear cub,” she added, referring to Hegseth and allegations Kennedy’s daughter made against the former independent presidential candidate.