By Trendsetter Tribune 
U.S. Border Patrol Commander Gregory Bovino defended his long-used trench coat Thursday after California Gov. Gavin Newsom accused him of wearing “SS garb” during immigration operations. Bovino, who has worn the coat since 1999, said it is standard-issue Border Patrol winter gear and noted he received compliments on it at former CBP Commissioner Chris Magnus’s swearing-in ceremony in 2021.
Newsom, speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, criticized federal immigration officers, calling them a “private army [of] masked men” and likening their appearance and tactics to authoritarian regimes. His remarks prompted debate online, with some historians noting the visual resemblance to 1930s European uniforms.
The Department of Homeland Security defended Bovino’s attire as standard issue, warning against “manufacturing fake outrage” and drawing Nazi comparisons. Princeton historian Harold James said the coat, combined with Bovino’s other uniform choices, can create an “unmistakable whiff of dictators” from the 1930s.
Border Patrol Commander Gregory Bovino defends long-used trench coat after Gov. Gavin Newsom likens it to Nazi attire; DHS says outrage is misplaced.