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FBI Director Kash Patel addressed backlash after footage emerged showing him celebrating with Team USA’s Men’s Hockey team following their victory over Canada.
In a post on X, Patel expressed that he “was extremely humbled” when Team USA’s Men’s Hockey team invited him “into the locker room” to celebrate their Gold Medal win.
“To the concerned media—I proudly embrace my love for America. It was an honor when my friends, the newly crowned Gold Medal winners on Team USA, invited me to join their locker room celebration,” Patel expressed. “This is the greatest country and greatest sport in the world.”
In videos shared on social media, Patel is seen reveling alongside the team, chugging what appears to be a beer, then shaking it exuberantly in the air. He is also shown enthusiastically drumming on a table with his other hand.
At one point, a team member places a gold medal around Patel’s neck, adding to the celebratory atmosphere.
The footage, shared on X by ProPublica reporter William Turton, prompted varied reactions. Turton mentioned that the video was provided by “a source.”
“You can only imagine the reaction from the GOP and Fox if this was a FBI director under Obama or Biden,” journalist Mehdi Hasan wrote in a post on X. “What is he doing there? At taxpayer expense??”
“Where’s DOGE when you need it?” Fox News Channel’s The Five co-host Jessica Tarlov wrote on X.
“They will do *literally anything* except arrest Epstein’s accomplices,” Republican Florida gubernatorial candidate James Fishback wrote. “As Governor, I will appoint a special prosecutor to reopen the Epstein investigations on every single sick animal in the files, Democrat or Republican.”
“The FBI director parties on your dime,” Dr. Abdul El-Sayed, a Democrat candidate for the U.S. Senate in Michigan, wrote.
“Kash Patel partying in Italy at the Olympics on taxpayer dollars,” Democrat influencer Harry Sisson wrote.
“3 million pages of evidence of a massive child sex trafficking ring and this is what the FBI director is doing right now,” Rep. Sean Casten (D-IL) wrote.
“Does Kash Patel ever work?” Meghan McCain wrote.
Breitbart News reported that Team USA’s Jack Hughes scored the winning goal “with 1:41 gone in the overtime period,” defeating Canada 2-1. The win represents the first time the USA has won the gold medal “since 1980 at Lake Placid.”