Kash Patel took the stage in Temecula with a brace on his right arm.
Facing an audience of Donald Trump supporters clad in red, white and blue and Make America Great Again caps, he quipped — using profanity — that he’d injured it fighting the Deep State. The crowd, gathered for a Christian conservative committee fundraiser, cheered.
Destroying the Deep State — a term used by conservatives to describe an alleged conspiracy by federal bureaucrats against Trump — is a passion for Patel, the incoming president’s pick to lead the FBI.
During his Temecula visit in May, Patel attacked undocumented immigrants and President Joe Biden’s immigration policy during an interview with conservative southwest Riverside County Pastor Tim Thompson.
His comments, framing those crossing the border illegally as terrorists and criminals preying upon U.S. citizens, run counter to data on immigration and comments from immigration policy analysts.
“There is so much misrepresentation in his comments,” said Cecilia Menjivar, a University of Southern California sociologist who studies immigration.
A lawyer and former federal prosecutor, Patel, 44, served in various roles in the first Trump White House. He’s known for his devout loyalty to Trump, even writing a children’s book — “The Plot Against the King” — to describe what he considers efforts by “Hillary Queenton” and others to destroy the Trump family.
To head the nation’s top federal law enforcement agency, Patel would need Senate confirmation and for current FBI Director Christopher Wray to resign or be fired. Critics fear a Patel-led FBI would become a political weapon aimed at exacting revenge on Trump’s enemies, including Democrats, officials from the first Trump administration and journalists.
Patel joined the president’s son, Eric Trump, and Trump attorney Alina Habba as headliners for a May 22 fundraiser at the Stampede country music venue in Old Town Temecula for the Inland Empire Family PAC,…
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