**Viral News Snippet:**
**🚨 FACT CHECK: Did Pam Bondi say she would ‘shut down’ CNN if appointed Attorney General? 🚨**
**Status: ❌ FALSE**
A viral clip circulating on X (formerly Twitter) and TikTok claims that former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi stated in a 2024 interview that she would use federal power to "shut down CNN" if she were nominated as U.S. Attorney General. The clip, often paired with dramatic music, shows Bondi saying, “You can’t have a free country with a dishonest media.”
**The Reality:** The clip is **manipulated**. The original interview—from a 2023 appearance on *Fox Business’s Mornings with Maria*—shows Bondi criticizing media bias in general, but she never explicitly called for CNN’s shutdown. In the full context, she said, "You can't have a free country with a dishonest media," and urged consumers to "turn it off" rather than government intervention. The word "shut down" was spliced in from a separate, unrelated SoundCloud interview about a local business closure. No credible source has reported Bondi making an official call to shutter the network. Rep. Matt Gaetz, a frequent Bondi associate, called the edited video "obvious disinformation."
**Why it’s spreading:** Political bots and partisan accounts are using the clip to preemptively frame Bondi as an authoritarian ahead of potential 2024 cabinet speculation. **Verdict: Fake. Do not share.**