"Getting silenced on X is, and I realize how absurd it sounds, the worst professional fate a Trump official can face. It signals that Bovino is no longer a player in an administration that has, from top to bottom, merged a social-media-first worldview with authoritarian tendencies. I like to call it the clicktatorship. Political appointees in the clicktatorship are not just using online platforms as a mode of communication."
"In the two days after Pretti died, Bovino relentlessly trolled Democrats who condemned the shooting-and defended Border Patrol agents as the real victims. When Representative Eric Swalwell wrote on X that ICE officers should walk off the job to protest the killing, Bovino replied: "I was thinking the same for you." At about 1 a.m. last Monday, Bovino replied to a user who said he would "never pay for a beer again" after mocking Swalwell: "Lol!! 🍺 🍻 🍺 🍻 🍺 🍻.""
Gregory Bovino lost his role as Border Patrol "commander at large" and his X account after agents he oversaw shot and killed Alex Pretti. Bovino relentlessly trolled Democrats after the shooting and defended Border Patrol agents as victims, exchanging taunts with Representative Eric Swalwell and other users. Getting silenced on X signifies loss of standing within an administration that has merged a social-media-first worldview with authoritarian tendencies. Political appointees in this "clicktatorship" make decisions hyper-responsive to far-right internet trends and treat actions as content. The president routinely announces policy via social platforms, and due process is increasingly framed as the right to post.
Read at The Atlantic
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