Did Attorney General Pam Bondi say "It's illegal to call yourself 'The Boss' if you're not in charge of the entire country"? No, that's not true: A fake Fox News graphic containing the fabricated quote originated on the Facebook page of someone who calls himself a "satirist" and "comedian." We found no corroboration for the fake quotation, which was a reference to Bruce Springsteen's prominent criticism of President Donald Trump in May 2025.
The fake graphic and quote appeared in a May 20, 2025, post on X (archived here). It consisted of a still image of Bondi at what appeared to be a press conference, and at the bottom, an apparent Fox News chyron with the following text:
BONDI: "IT'S ILLEGAL TO CALL YOURSELF 'THE BOSS' IF YOU'RE NOT IN CHARGE OF THE ENTIRE COUNTRY."
This is what it looked like at the time of writing:
(Source: X screenshot)
In reality, Bondi never said any such thing, and the Fox News graphic was fake. It originated in a May 19, 2025 post on Facebook by James Schlarmann who, on his Facebook page, describes himself as a "satirist" and "comedian."
A Google News search for the words "Bondi" and "The Boss" yielded no relevant entries, further demonstrating that there was not even an accidental factual basis to the claim.
Furthermore, the press conference shown in the fake Fox News graphic actually took place on April 16. There was no mention of "The Boss" at it.
"The Boss" is the longstanding nickname for Bruce Springsteen, who made a series of political comments during a concert in Manchester, England on May 14, calling Trump "unfit" and describing his administration as "corrupt, incompetent and treasonous".
Trump responded with a post on Truth Social, calling Springsteen "highly overrated", "a pushy, obnoxious jerk", and "dumb as a rock".
