Fact Check: Did Pam Bondi say it’s 'illegal' for Bruce Springsteen to call himself 'The Boss'?

WASHINGTON, DC: A rumor has been making the rounds about a wild quote supposedly from US Attorney General Pam Bondi about rocker Bruce Springsteen's nickname "The Boss".

The claim is that Bondi threw shade at Springsteen by saying, "It's illegal to call yourself the boss if you're not in charge of the entire country."

Many on social media took the bait. One viral Facebook post earlier this month showed what looked like a Fox News chyron bearing that exact quote: "Bondi: 'It's illegal to call yourself 'The Boss' if you're not in charge of the entire country.'" 

There were several reposts on X and Threads.

Meet the guy behind the fake Pam Bondi quote

Searches across multiple engines found no evidence that Pam Bondi made the quoted statement about Springsteen.

Turns out the quote came from professional jokester James Schlarmann, better known online as @JamboSchlarmbo. He’s a well-known satirist who posts viral gags meant to rile up both sides of the aisle.

His Facebook page describes him as a “satirist" and "comedian.” When the Bondi quote blew up, he had to jump into the comments section to remind folks: “I write jokes guys please remember to temper your outrage with that.”

Still, the image looked real enough to fool a lot of people, but Fox News never aired it. A network spokesperson set the record straight in an email to Snopes: “This graphic is fake and did not originate or air on FOX News Channel.”

As for the image itself, it was cleverly doctored. Schlarmann had used a real photo of Bondi from a press conference on April 16. That day, Bondi was announcing a lawsuit against Maine, accusing the state of refusing to ban transgender athletes from women’s sports. 

Standing behind her in that image were Republican Rep. Laurel Libby and conservative activist Riley Gaines, both of whom were present in the original event footage that Fox News did report on.

Eagle-eyed viewers caught a few red flags. The real Fox News chyron included a “Breaking News” banner and a text box with Bondi’s name. Furthermore, it had a totally different font from the fake version.

Bruce Springsteen slams Donald Trump across the pond, faces backlash

While Pam Bondi wasn’t out for Bruce Springsteen, President Donald Trump most definitely was. It all started as Bruce went after Trump onstage during his May 15 concert in Manchester, UK.

“The mighty E Street Band is here tonight to call upon the righteous power of art, of music, of rock 'n' roll in dangerous times,” Springsteen told his audience. “In my home, the America I love, the America I've written about, that has been a beacon of hope and liberty for 250 years, is currently in the hands of a corrupt, incompetent, and treasonous administration.”

“Tonight, we ask all who believe in democracy and the best of our American experiment to rise with us, raise your voices against authoritarianism, and let freedom ring!” he added.

The next day, May 16, Trump fired back on Truth Social. He called Springsteen a “dried out 'prune' of a rocker” and slammed him for criticizing the US while overseas.

"I see that Highly Overrated Bruce Springsteen goes to a Foreign Country to speak badly about the President of the United States," Trump wrote. "Never liked him, never liked his music, or his Radical Left Politics and, importantly, he’s not a talented guy — Just a pushy, obnoxious JERK, who fervently supported Crooked Joe Biden, a mentally incompetent FOOL, and our WORST EVER President, who came close to destroying our Country."

"If I wasn’t elected, it would have been GONE by now! Sleepy Joe didn’t have a clue as to what he was doing, but Springsteen is 'dumb as a rock,' and couldn’t see what was going on, or could he (which is even worse!)?" he continued.

Trump added, "This dried-out 'prune' of a rocker (his skin is all atrophied!) ought to KEEP HIS MOUTH SHUT until he gets back into the Country, that’s just 'standard fare.' Then we’ll all see how it goes for him!"