Kash Patel Went to the Olympics. And Then He Was Sexist Towards Our Women’s Hockey Team.
The Milan Cortina Winter Olympics have officially come to a close, after over two weeks of competition and pageantry. The games had no shortage of shocking moments, ranging from inspirational artistry to cheating scandals to surprising cameos. But now, the final day of the games brought a controversy that is impacting the political sphere.
On Sunday, after the USA Men’s Hockey Team defeated Canada in the gold medal game, video of their locker room celebrations soon found their way online. Seen among the team was none other than Kash Patel, the current director of the FBI. In an additional video, Patel was shown sharing a call from President Donald Trump with the team, during which a misogynistic joke was cracked about the USA Women’s Hockey Team, who also won gold earlier in the games. As Trump put it, “I guess I have to invite the women’s team too or else I’ll get impeached,” with Patel responding that he could help arrange such a visit.
The videos have been met with ire on social media for a multitude of reasons. Hockey fans have been particularly unhappy that their sport’s weeks-long tournament is now culminating with political controversy, and that the success of the Women’s team is now being turned into a sexist punchline. Patel’s presence means that the Milan Cortina games were bookended with figures from the current American political sphere courting controversy, after Vice President JD Vance was outright booed while attending the opening ceremonies earlier this month.
What Is Kash Patel Doing?!
There are also the optics of Patel’s presence… not just in the team’s locker room, but at the games to begin with. Earlier in the week, FBI spokesperson Ben Williamson repeatedly debunked the notion that Patel was using the FBI jet (which is funded by taxpayer money) to attend the games, saying that he was only using the trip to attend business meetings. Not only did that not end up being the case, but the whole ordeal feels hypocritical amid the current economic discourse, including the Trump administration’s repeated focus on “unnecessary” government spending.
It doesn’t help that Patel has already been under fire for several months for allegedly using the jet for personal reasons. A recently-resurfaced 2023 video of Patel, in which he criticizes then-FBI director Christopher Wray for allegedly using the FBI jet for personal trips, makes it all the more ironic.
There’s also the timing: Patel made this trip at a time when a shooting occurred at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago facility, and when reports are indicating that the bureau is currently dealing with multiple “crises.” It also happened amid the still-ongoing investigation into Nancy Guthrie’s kidnapping, which Patel had very personally involved himself with just a week prior. At the time, Patel had been criticized for using the case as an opportunity for “self-promotion”: an argument that takes on a new shape now that Patel has shifted his priorities to partying with hockey players.
Beyond that, Patel’s presence needlessly turned Team USA’s win into a partisan political moment. As a tweet from @abendytendy puts it: “bunch of grown ass millionaire men huddled up around a phone smiling ear to ear giggling their butts off at a pedophile making corny ass sexist jokes about their peers it does not get much lamer than this.”
(featured image: Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
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