White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt lashed out at legacy media and news networks for their characterization of Dan Bongino, who President Donald Trump has selected to be the FBI’s new deputy director.

“The president also announced deputy director, Dan Bongino. From what’s been reported, and maybe this is not accurate, you can tell me, the FBI director, Kash Patel, informed Republican Senators it would be an individual named as deputy who was a special agent currently at the FBI, and of course, Mr. Bongino is not,” one reporter began during a question-and-answer session at the White House on Tuesday.

“What was the reason for naming Mr. Bongino for this position? Was Mr. Patel not correct in making this assurance to those senators?” the reporter asked.

“I’m not sure if anyone in this room has listened to Mr. Bongino when he talks about corruption at the FBI, when he talks about his experience in serving for the United States Secret Service. This is a man who loves his country and honorably served our country in ways that many have not,” Leavitt began.

“He understands the depths of the corruption at these institutions, which the American people re-elected President Trump to shake up. And I think it is quite despicable to see many networks in this room who have had chyrons on their television screen labeling Mr. Bongino as a ‘far-right podcaster.’ He is not,” she continued.

“He is a former law enforcement agent, a former Secret Service agent who put his life on the line for this country, and that’s why the president has entrusted him in this important role,” she added. “He’s also an outsider to this Washington swamp, and we often see when outsiders are appointed to such coveted positions, a lot of people in this city get very nervous and they should be.

“Because Dan Bongino, Director Patel, and Attorney General Bondi are focused on rooting out corruption at these agencies and ending the weaponization of government once and for all,” Leavitt said.