The U.S. Customs and Border Protection commander spearheading President Donald Trump’s urban deportation campaign is defending his wardrobe after coming under fire from California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D).
Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, this week, Newsom said Border Patrol commander Gregory Bovino appeared “as if he literally went on eBay and purchased SS garb,” suggesting Bovino’s calf-length green trenchcoat resembled those worn by Nazi officers in World War II-era Germany.
In an interview with NewsNation’s Leland Vittert that aired Thursday, Bovino laughed off the implication, noting that the coat “is definitely Border Patrol-issued” and had been in his possession for “over 25 years.”
“I bought that as a young agent, approximately 1999,” he explained.
Watch a clip of Bovino’s NewsNation appearance below. His comments on Newsom begin around the 7:03 mark.
Bovino went on to suggest that Newsom’s criticisms were politically motivated, given that he’d worn the coat to former Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Chris Magnus’ swearing-in ceremony in Washington, D.C., in 2021, when President Joe Biden was still in office.
At that time, Bovino “received nothing but compliments” on the coat, he said.
“Fast-forward a few years to this administration, all of a sudden it’s a problem,” he added. “Hey, what changed there? Why is it a problem now [and not] during the last administration?”
Newsom, however, isn’t the only one likening Bovino’s coat to “Nazi cosplay.” Photos of Bovino taken this week in Minneapolis ― where Renee Nicole Good, 37, was shot and killed by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer Jonathan Ross earlier this month ― have drawn outrage online, with many on social media zooming in on his coat.
“He’s probably the kind of guy who collects vintage uniforms and memorabilia from a certain time in German history,” one person wrote on Reddit.
Added another: “Stop calling it a cosplay. They are showing you exactly who they are. And they have killed countless innocents for it.”
