Pam Bondi isn’t one to back down, and she proved that in her Senate confirmation hearing for Attorney General. What started as a relatively calm session turned tense when Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) tried to corner her with a typical Democrat “gotcha” question about the 2020 election. Spoiler alert: it didn’t go as Durbin planned.
Durbin, the Senate Minority Whip and a top figure on the Judiciary Committee, thought he could rattle Bondi by dragging up the long-debunked narrative about former President Donald Trump’s phone call with Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger. You know, the infamous “find 11,780 votes” line that Democrats have been milking for years. Durbin leaned into his script, trying to paint Trump as some election saboteur and push Bondi into agreeing with him.
But Bondi wasn’t having it. Calmly but firmly, she cut him off and asked the most obvious question: “Do you have the entire context of that call?” Boom. Durbin stumbled, admitting the call was actually an hour long and included far more than the single cherry-picked quote Democrats love to throw around.
And Bondi was right. Trump’s call wasn’t some criminal scheme to fabricate votes. His legal team brought forward concerns about election irregularities—issues like improperly handled drop boxes and reports of votes cast in the names of deceased individuals. Were all of Trump’s claims rock solid? No. But pretending there were zero concerns in Georgia’s election process is dishonest. Bondi reminded everyone that taking one sentence out of a lengthy conversation is misleading, and she wasn’t about to let Durbin get away with it.
Caught off guard, Durbin weakly responded, “You can certainly listen to it, and I hope you will.” Translation: “Please don’t call me out on my selective narrative.”
Pam Bondi making Durbin look stupid. pic.twitter.com/f5ph7xoVlP
— Gunther Eagleman™ (@GuntherEagleman) January 15, 2025
This exchange wasn’t just a win for Bondi—it was a masterclass in how to handle partisan grandstanding. Democrats are scrambling to find anything that sticks to derail her confirmation, and if this is their best shot, she’s sailing straight into the Attorney General’s office.
Bondi’s performance didn’t happen by accident. She’s been working both sides of the aisle, building bridges on bipartisan issues like criminal justice reform and antitrust policy. Even Senator Peter Welch (D-VT), no Trump fan, admitted Bondi was “direct, very responsive,” and praised her experience.
Durbin and the Democrats tried to play dirty, but Bondi showed she’s more than ready for this role. If her confirmation hearing proved anything, it’s that she can handle pressure, push back against partisan spin, and stay focused on the law—not politics.