Spin Cycle: Everybody’s In A Panic Over Kash Patel

For those who don’t spend their Sunday mornings glued to the television — and their Sunday afternoons attempting to dig through a week’s worth of network and cable news media spin — The Daily Wire has compiled a short summary of what you may have missed.

President-elect Donald Trump wrapped up the Thanksgiving holiday with a few more appointments, and while nearly every major announcement has garnered media attention — whether warranted or not — the one that ruffled the most feathers was his decision to name longtime adviser Kash Patel as the incoming head of the FBI.

On Sunday morning, the political shows were stacked with guests who either criticized Patel and argued that Trump should not have appointed him or defended current FBI Director Christopher Wray — whom Trump would have to fire in order to give Patel the Bureau’s top job.

ABC’s “This Week” led the charge with President Joe Biden’s National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, who claimed that Wray had done an excellent job primarily because he had not allowed politics to influence his work.

Host Jonathan Karl opened his discussion with Sullivan by noting that Patel had accused him directly of being a part of the “deep state” and named him specifically as being one of the “60 corrupt actors of the first order.”

“Well, I’m not going to speak to President-elect Trump’s nominees. I’ll let him and his transition team speak to that,” Sullivan said, arguing that President Joe Biden had simply allowed Wray — who had previously been appointed by Trump — to stay on because that was the way things should be done. Wray, he said, had “served with distinction” and “served entirely insulated from politics.”

After President-elect Trump taps longtime ally Kash Patel to lead the FBI, national security adviser Jake Sullivan tells @JonKarl that the current FBI director Christopher Wray has “served with distinction” and “served entirely insulated from politics.” https://t.co/Y24FUIAHnv pic.twitter.com/c1mJnYp5NA

— This Week (@ThisWeekABC) December 1, 2024

Karl also brought in Senator Mike Rounds (R-SD), who first noted that Trump had the right to nominate or appoint anyone he wanted but then also defended Wray’s performance on the job.

Rounds pointed out the fact that Trump was certainly not the first president to choose people who had been loyal to him, but that he had never had any issues with the way that Wray had conducted himself on a professional level.

“I don’t have any complaints about the way that he’s done his job right now,” Rounds said.

GOP Sen. Mike Rounds emphasizes support for current FBI director Christopher Wray, whom President-elect Donald Trump intends to fire and replace with the loyalist Kash Patel.

"I don't have any complaints about the way that he's done his job right now.” https://t.co/kWuayc3WWv pic.twitter.com/Fs0iHRkQid

— This Week (@ThisWeekABC) December 1, 2024

On NBC’s “Meet the Press,” Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT) fretted that Patel would only be interested in protecting Republicans or those who had supported Trump if he were to take charge of the FBI.

Murphy noted that he and several other elected officials had been the targets of bomb threats over the holiday weekend and added, “One of the things that I’m concerned about is that Kash Patel is gonna only care about protecting Republicans and not care about protecting every single member of the American population, every single one of us who occasionally gets met with these kind of threats.”

Sen. Chris Murphy says he’s ‘concerned’ Kash Patel would only protect Republicans as FBI director https://t.co/deO8kcbDtO

— Meet the Press (@MeetThePress) December 1, 2024

On CNN’s “State of the Union,” Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) continued the hand-wringing, complaining that worries from the Trump camp about a “deep state” were unfounded — even after a first term that saw dozens if not hundreds of unelected bureaucrats attempting to undermine his agenda.

“Apparently [Wray] has demonstrated too much independence and objectivity in the job for Donald Trump, who wants much more of a personal loyalist in the position, and that’s why he’s gone to Kash Patel,” Raskin complained.

“I mean, the deep state,” he continued. “Nobody’s ever defined it, apparently. Just means anybody who doesn’t do the will of Donald Trump.”

????NEW: Jamie Raskin is not happy about the nomination of Kash Patel to head FBI —

— says 'Deep State’ is made up — “just means anybody who doesn't do the will of Donald Trump."

“Apparently [Wray] has demonstrated too much independence and objectivity in the job for Donald… pic.twitter.com/lob05HZtnC

— Western Lensman (@WesternLensman) December 1, 2024

CNN also brought in Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY), asking him whether he had “any reservations” about Trump’s decision to bring Patel into that particular role.

Lawler said that he was not concerned, noting that Trump had campaigned on a promise to reform the FBI but that he didn’t expect Patel to take that charge any further than necessary.

“I don’t think the American people are interested in a revenge tour,” he said,

Republican @RepMikeLawler tells @kasie “I don't think the American people are interested in a revenge tour” but says he has no reservations about Kash Patel’s nomination to be FBI director. pic.twitter.com/BqKYOBJI6w

— State of the Union (@CNNSOTU) December 1, 2024

And as Tiffany Smiley pointed out during a panel discussion later in the show, the fact that Patel made certain Washington D.C., insiders very nervous was actually more of a selling point for a broad swath of the population.

“There’s a lack of trust in the FBI with the American people … Donald Trump wants change agents. The fact that people here in D.C. — D.C. insiders and people within the FBI — don’t want Kash is a really good sell to the American people.”

.@SmileyForWA: "There's a lack of trust in the FBI with the American people… Donald Trump wants change agents. The fact that people here in DC — DC insiders and people within the FBI — don't want Kash is a really good sell to the American people." pic.twitter.com/9phpburoGv

— Trump War Room (@TrumpWarRoom) December 1, 2024