Dan Bongino goes on strike over Vaccine mandate

Dan Bongino is taking a break from his radio show and is off the air for at least the rest of this week in the midst of a public feud over the Vaccine mandate imposed by Cumulus Media, the radio giant that distributes his show.

Several affiliates that play The Dan Bongino Show told the radio broadcasting industry trade magazine Radio Ink that Bongino’s program has been put on “best of” mode for the rest of this week.

The show, which occupies the noon to 3 p.m. time slot on Cumulus Media’s influential radio network Westwood One, also did not air on Tuesday, according to Radio Ink.

Zachary Petrizzo, an investigative reporter with Salon, tweeted Wednesday morning that he received information Bongino is currently on “vacation” from his radio hosting duties with Cumulus.

Bongino’s departure from the air follows a public clash over the Covid-19 vaccine mandate imposed by Cumulus Media CEO Mary Berner in September. Several of the company’s radio hosts have already quit or been fired over the rule, which was geared toward an October 11 return to the office. Bongino himself has been fully vaccinated on the advice of his doctors as he is battling Hodgkin’s lymphoma, his team said. However he believes vaccine mandates are “unethical” and “immoral.” He threatened to quit his job earlier this month if Cumulus Media didn’t shift on the mandate.

“Cumulus is going to have to make a decision with me—if they want to continue this partnership or they don’t,” Bongino told listeners in a recent program. “It’s really unfortunate that people with a lower profile than me, who don’t have 300-plus stations, have been summarily either shown the door or been put in really untenable circumstances because they simply want to make a medical decision by themselves.”