Jimmy Kimmel took aim at embattled FBI director Kash Patel during his Monday night monologue, portraying him as a man already bracing for the inevitable exit. On Jimmy Kimmel Live!, the host wasted no time dubbing Patel the country’s “soon-to-be former FBI director” based around reports that suggest turmoil behind the scenes.
Citing a bombshell report from The Atlantic, Kimmel zeroed in on a particularly chaotic moment from earlier this month. The outlet's sources claim that Patel became convinced he had been fired after experiencing what turned out to be a routine IT issue. According to Kimmel, Patel’s April 10 login problem spiraled into full-blown panic.
“Kash Patel was so worried about getting the axe when he had an issue logging onto his computer 10 days ago, he thought he’d been locked out and panicked,” Kimmel said. “He started frantically calling aides to announce that he’d been fired. According to nine people familiar with this outrage — he called nine people to tell them he’d been fired. Turned out it was just an IT issue.”
Kimmel eaned heavily into portraying Patel as overwhelmed and unstable in his role. Kimmel referenced allegations of troubling behavior, including “bouts of excessive drinking and unexplained absences.” He also highlighted claims that members of Patel’s security detail at one point struggled to wake him, prompting concerns serious enough to request breaching equipment.
“You know you have a problem when SEAL Team Six shows up to do a wellness check,” Kimmel joked.
He then widened the punchline to include Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, joking about an imaginary competition for who best embodies hard-partying behavior within Donald Trump’s cabinet.
“We all thought Pete Hegseth was the Trump poster boy for drinking too much,” Kimmel said. “All of a sudden, Kash is like, ‘Hold my beer, and my martini while you’re at it.’”
Patel has strongly denied everything in the Atlantic report. He's gone so far as to file a $250 million defamation lawsuit against the publisher. But it may be too late for Patel, considering how much stock his boss puts into optics. Count Kimmel among those who think Patel's days are numbered as head of the FBI.
“Which do you think will last longer, Kash Patel as head of the FBI or the bananas I bought at Trader Joe’s yesterday?” Kimmel asked his audience.
For now, at least in late-night television, Patel’s situation appears less like a question of if and more like when. And if President Trump does fire yet another cabinet member, expect Kimmel to be among the first ones to celebrate the news.
Add us as a preferred source on Google