“Alex Jones meets J. Edgar Hoover”: Critics call Patel pick a “middle finger” to intelligence

Donald Trump chose MAGA hardliner Kash Patel to lead the FBI in his second term. 

The diehard supporter of the president-elect has shared grand designs for the bureau, and that’s set off alarm bells among pundits, elected officials and intelligence reporters. 

MSNBC contributor Hayes Brown said the conspiracy-minded Patel and his plans to launch investigations into the 2020 presidential election would lead the FBI down a deeply paranoid path.

“Kash Patel as FBI director would be like if you crossed Alex Jones with J. Edgar Hoover in terms of just how much he would want to ignore precedent and the constraints that have been put on the FBI over the years,” Brown said on Saturday. “With all of the conspiracy theorizing, all of the eagerness to fan the flames of the worst instincts of President Trump put into power, those two things should never mix.”

Axios reporter Sophia Cai called Patel’s nomination a “massive middle finger to the intelligence community.” Never-Trump commentator Charlie Sykes agreed in a post to X, adding that the move from Trump shows he expects the Supreme Court to fall in line with any planned retribution against his political enemies. 

“A huge FU to the Supreme Court because Trump doesn’t think they will be a check on his campaign of lawless retribution,” he wrote. “Nice work, John Roberts.”

MSNBC legal analyst Joyce Vance also thought the Patel nom signaled Trump’s focus on revenge. 

“This is clearly about revenge prosecutions,” Vance shared on the network on Sunday. “If you’re Donald Trump and you are committed to a series of revenge prosecutions, well, you need someone like Kash Patel — a loyalist — running the FBI for you.”

The Patel announcement was largely met with cheers by GOP legislators and Fox News hosts. House Speaker and Trump running dog Mike Johnson congratulated the “America First patriot” Patel for his nomination on X.

“Kash Patel has extensive experience in national security and intelligence,” he wrote. “He is an America First patriot who will bring much-needed change and transparency to the FBI.” 

During a stop by CBS’ “Face The Nation” on Sunday, Sen. Ted Cruz pushed back against “the weeping and gnashing of teeth” over Patel’s nomination, calling him a “real reformer.”

“I think Kash Patel is a very strong nominee to take on the partisan corruption in the FBI,” Cruz said,