As the fallout grows over the assassination of Turning Point USA Founder and close Trump ally Charlie Kirk, calls have grown online for Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Director Kash Patel to be ousted over what many conservatives see as his “terrible” performance during the investigation, with many worrying he can’t effectively control the agency.
The charge on that front was led by Christopher Rufo, the Manhattan Institute fellow and conservative journalist known mainly for his anti-DEI work. Many conservatives perceived Rufo’s message, given his prominence, as him being a mouthpiece for various government officials who think Kash isn’t up to the task and needs to be replaced, but who can’t speak out because of their positions in the Trump Administration.
Beginning his post, Rufo noted that while it is good that state officials were able to catch the alleged shooter, the administration needs to re-examine Patel’s role in the FBI. He said, “I’m grateful that Utah authorities have captured the suspect in the Charlie Kirk assassination, and think it is time for Republicans to assess whether Kash Patel is the right man to run the FBI.”
Continuing, Rufo argued that Patel had done a terrible job dealing with the assassin and appears to be unable to deal with the wider issue of fighting leftist terror in America. He said, “He performed terribly in the last few days, and it’s not clear whether he has the operational expertise to investigate, infiltrate, and disrupt the violent movements—of whatever ideology—that threaten the peace in the United States.”
Building on that, Rufo noted that a “spiral of violence” in which right and left engage in tit for tat violence is a clear threat here, and would be an absolute catastrophe for America. He said, “There are two ways forward. First, we enter a spiral of violence, which would be a catastrophe for the country.”
Further, he noted that the leftist terror networks need to be cracked down upon, saying, “Second, federal law enforcement makes a credible plan to restore the civil order, initiates a campaign to disrupt domestic terror networks in all fifty states, and sets them in motion with the goal of preventing further bloodshed, all of which can and must be done in a principled, legal, nonpartisan manner.”
Tying the message together, Rufo noted that is not at all clear that Patel has what it takes to prevent the “spiral of violence” problem or restore order while cracking down on terror, writing, “We would be wise to take a moment and ask whether Kash Patel has what it takes to get this done.”
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So, he concluded by noting that many officials inside the Trump Administration do not think that Kash has what it takes to achieve those objectives and argued that changes need to be made for them to be achieved. He said, “I’ve been on the phone the last few days with many conservative leaders, all of whom wholeheartedly support the Trump Administration and none of whom are confident that the current structure of the FBI is up to this task.”
Watch Patel’s much-disliked press conference about the killer’s apprehension here:
Featured image credit: screengrab from the embedded video