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NEW YORK — I’ll get you, my pretty! And your little pygmy hippo, too! Forgive us the shameless attempt to link the fantasy hit “Wicked” to the delightful Moo Deng . But, hear us out — there’s something the two have in common as the year draws to a close. Escapism. Whether we found it on the yellow brick road, or in videos from a Thailand zoo, or perhaps in unlikely Olympic heroes , we gravitated toward fantasy and feel-good pop culture moments this year. There were new trends, as always. “Brat summer” became a thing, as did “demure, mindful.” And for some inexplicable reason, we became obsessed with celebrity lookalike contests. People are also reading... There were breakups — Bennifer is, again, a thing of the past — and reunions: Oasis, please try to stay together for the tour. Yet some things stayed, remarkably, the same: Taylor Swift and Beyoncé kept on breaking records and making history. So, after a year where much changed but some things held steady, here’s our annual, very selective trip down pop culture memory lane: Lily Gladstone poses in the press room Jan. 7 with the award for best performance by an actress in a motion picture, drama for "Killers of the Flower Moon" at the 81st Golden Globe Awards at the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, Calif. January It starts as a cheery tweet from a beloved “Sesame Street” figure: “ ELMO is just checking in! How is everybody doing?” The answers hint at something deeper and more worrisome. “Not great, Elmo. Not great,” says one milder reply. Doing much better is the viral phenomenon called “BARBENHEIMER,” which makes its awards season debut at the GOLDEN GLOBES . But perhaps the most poignant moment comes from neither film: LILY GLADSTONE , first Indigenous winner of best actress in a drama for “Killers of the Flower Moon,” begins her remarks in the language of her tribe, Blackfeet Nation. Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce (87) kisses Taylor Swift on Feb. 11 after the Kansas City Chiefs defeated the San Francisco 49ers in overtime during the NFL Super Bowl 58 football game in Las Vegas. February Valentine’s Day — a perfect time to settle into a sweet love saga via TikTok. Only that’s not quite what we get with “Who TF Did I Marry?,” REESA TEESA ’s depressing, fascinating, 50-part account of her disastrous marriage with a man who lied about absolutely everything. Meanwhile, if you're looking for a single week that encapsulates peak SWIFT cultural dominance , try this: she begins with the Grammys in Los Angeles (becoming the first artist to win album of the year four times AND announcing a new album), then heads to Tokyo for four tour dates, then jets back just in time for the Super Bowl in Las Vegas — where she shares a passionate smooch with boyfriend TRAVIS KELCE on the field of victory. Ryan Gosling performs the song "I'm Just Ken" from the movie "Barbie" on March 10 during the Oscars at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. March “What was I made for?” BILLIE EILISH sings at the OSCARS, channeling BARBIE . And what was KEN made for? Not entirely clear — but it's clear RYAN GOSLING was made to play him. His singalong version of “I’m Just Ken” is one of the most entertaining Oscar musical moments in years. Still, Christopher Nolan's “OPPENHEIMER” prevails, a rare case of the top prize going to a blockbuster studio film. Will it happen again in 2025? CYNTHIA ERIVO and ARIANA GRANDE sure hope so; as presenters, they make a sly reference to their upcoming juggernaut, “WICKED.” Speaking of marketing, people are obsessed with that bizarre “DUNE” popcorn bucket. Beyonce And BEYONCÉ carves her space in country music with “Act II: Cowboy Carter,” which will make her the first Black woman to top the Billboard country chart. Taylor Swift performs June 21 at Wembley Stadium in London as part of her Eras Tour. April Tennis, anyone? The game’s been around for centuries, but it’s having a cultural moment right now, helped mightily by “CHALLENGERS,” the sweaty romance triangle starring ZENDAYA, MIKE FAIST and JOSH O'CONNOR (40-love? More like 40-sex.) Elsewhere, a new era dawns: At midnight, SWIFT drops “THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT," then drops another 15 songs two hours later. The fascinating and disturbing “BABY REINDEER,” the story of a struggling comedian’s extended encounter with a stalker, debuts on Netflix. Ben Affleck, left, and Jennifer Lopez arrive Feb. 13 at the premiere of "This Is Me ... Now: A Love Story" at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. May It’s MET GALA time — or as it's known in 2024, another early marketing moment for “WICKED.” ERIVO and GRANDE make fashion waves on the carpet and then musical ones at dinner, with a soulful performance of “When You Believe.” If the “Wicked” tour is in full force, another one stops in its tracks: JENNIFER LOPEZ cancels her summer tour amid reports of both poor ticket sales and trouble in her marriage to BEN AFFLECK . It’s been an eventful year for J.Lo, who's released an album and movie called “THIS IS ME ... NOW" — both reflections on her renewed love with Affleck. June Welcome to BRAT SUMMER ! CHARLI XCX releases her hit “Brat” album , with its lime green cover, and launches a thousand memes. Collins Dictionary defines “brat,” its word of the year, as “characterized by a confident, independent, and hedonistic attitude.” At the celeb-heavy SWIFT shows in London, we see PRINCE WILLIAM shaking it off, which is either charming or cringe, you decide. Even better: KELCE dons a top hat and tux and performs for one night. At another stadium across the pond, METS infielder JOSE IGLESIAS delights the crowd with his cheery number “OMG.” Stephen Nedoroscik is introduced June 29 at the United States Gymnastics Olympic Trials in Minneapolis. July Bonjour, it’s OLYMPICS time! In Paris! An audacious opening ceremony along the Seine is punctuated by a fabulous CELINE DION , perched on the EIFFEL TOWER , singing her heart out — in the rain, too. Controversy swirls over a scene critics feel mocks Leonardo da Vinci’s “The Last Supper” (organizers say it does not). Olympic stars are born — including French swimming superstar LEON MARCHAND , rugby player ILONA MAHER , and bespectacled “Pommel Horse Guy” gymnast STEPHEN NEDOROSCIK , who nets two bronze medals and comparisons to Clark Kent. Baby pigmy hippo Moo Deng plays with a zookeeper Sept. 19 in the Khao Kheow Open Zoo in Chonburi province, Thailand. Also capturing hearts: yep, MOO DENG , born this month. Her name means “bouncy pork.” Australia's Rachael Gunn, known as B-Girl Raygun, competes Aug. 9 during the Round Robin Battle at the breaking competition at La Concorde Urban Park at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, France. August This is them ... now: BENNIFER is no more. After two decades, two engagements and two weddings, J.Lo files for divorce. One union dissolves, another returns: OASIS announces a reunion tour. Everyone seems to want to get in on TikToker JOOLS LEBRON 's “ DEMURE, MINDFUL ” act — even the WHITE HOUSE press team. Back at the Olympics, in the new sport of breaking, we meet Australia’s RAYGUN , arguably neither demure nor mindful with her “kangaroo” move. Los Angeles Dodgers' Shohei Ohtani brings his dog Decoy to the mound Aug. 28 before Decoy delivered the ceremonial first pitch prior to a baseball game between the Dodgers and the Baltimore Orioles in Los Angeles. Cute animal alert: SHOHEI OHTANI ’s perky pooch DECOY does a great “first pitch” in his Major League Baseball debut. Chappell Roan performs "Good Luck, Babe" on Sept. 11 during the MTV Video Music Awards at UBS Arena in Elmont, N.Y. September One of the year’s biggest breakout artists, CHAPPELL ROAN , withdraws from a music festival after speaking out about frightening fan interactions. And more on the price of fame: In an excruciating moment, “Bachelorette” JENN TRAN , the franchise’s first Asian American lead, is forced to sit through a painful viewing of her proposal to her chosen suitor, after tearfully explaining how he’d later dumped her over the phone. Tran is keeping busy though — she’s announced as part of the new “Dancing with the Stars” lineup. Also on the list: rugby player Maher, and Pommel Horse Guy! Also, ANNA SOROKIN , dancing with an ankle monitor. Online fandom, meanwhile, is shaken when X is temporarily suspended in Brazil and celebrity stan accounts post tearful farewells, revealing to many across the globe that their favorite accounts are run by Brazilians. Miles Mitchell, 21, wins of the Timothee Chalamet lookalike contest Oct. 27 near Washington Square Park in New York. October “Dune” Chalamets! “Wonka” Chalamets! Thousands gather in Manhattan for a TIMOTHÉE CHALAMET lookalike contest, and things really get interesting when Chalamet himself shows up. He doesn’t enter the contest, though, and with his mustache, he may not even have won. The trend continues with contests for JEREMY ALLEN WHITE, ZAYN MALIK and — in a very Washington version — Kennedy scion JACK SCHLOSSBERG , who's been gathering a following with some interesting social media posts. New York Liberty Kennedy Burke dances with the mascot, Ellie the Elephant, during an Oct. 24 ceremony after a parade in honor of the Liberty's WNBA basketball championship at City Hall in New York. Turning to basketball, who’s that dancing with USHER ? Why it’s ELLIE THE ELEPHANT , the now-viral NEW YORK LIBERTY mascot. Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris, right, appears Nov. 2 with Maya Rudolph on NBC's "Saturday Night Live" in New York. November MAYA RUDOLPH does a pretty good KAMALA HARRIS laugh on “Saturday Night Live,” but you know who does it better? HARRIS herself. The Democratic candidate makes a surprise cameo three days before the U.S. presidential election, following in the footsteps of HILLARY CLINTON , SARAH PALIN and others. Elsewhere in television, Bravo announces that “VANDERPUMP RULES,” the Emmy-nominated reality show that has lived through countless scandals, is entirely recasting its 12th season — apart from namesake LISA VANDERPUMP . As for MOO DENG , she doesn't have her own TV series yet, but our favorite pygmy hippo is generating plenty of merch . And THAT brings us back to ... Ariana Grande, left, and Cynthia Erivo pose for photographers Nov. 11 prior to the premiere of "Wicked" at Auditorio Nacional in Mexico City. December “WICKED” ! Director JON M. CHU ’s emerald-hued fantasy remains very very popular, to quote one of its buzzy show tunes, dancing through life and defying gravity at the multiplex. Moviegoers also come for “GLADIATOR II” and, in a veritable tidal wave, Disney's “MOANA 2,” which beckons us back to the seas of Oceania. Once again, 2024 seems to be telling us: Give people some whimsy, a place to escape, maybe some catchy tunes — and no one knows how far they’ll go. 2024 Year in Review The stories and images that defined 2024. What were the most popular Wikipedia pages of 2024? Searching for something? From queries about U.S. politics to cricket in India, Wikipedia has become a source of information for millions of people across the globe. PHOTOS: The top sports images from 2024 From the Paris Olympics to the Super Bowl. From Simone Biles to Shohei Ohtani. And, of course, Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift. These are the sp... PHOTOS: The top images of 2024 AP photographers assembled a visual catalog of our civilization as life in 2024 hurtled directly at us at every speed and in every imaginable ... PHOTOS: The top images from the US in 2024 In 2024, photographers captured glimpses of humanity, ranging from a deeply divisive presidential election, to hurricanes and fires that ravag... PHOTOS: The top images from the 2024 elections Associated Press photographers captured voters with raw emotions of joy, excitement, contemplation or sorrow. PHOTOS: The top entertainment images from 2024 See entertainment's biggest moments in 2024, through the lens of Associated Press photographers. How to sum up 2024? The Oxford University Press word of the year is 'brain rot' It beat five other finalists: demure, slop, dynamic pricing, romantasy and lore. From Kamala to Chappell, here are some of the most mispronounced words of 2024 News anchors, politicians and other public figures in the U.S. struggled with these words the most this year. 'Polarization' is Merriam-Webster's 2024 word of the year Is it any surprise Merriam-Webster's word of the year is "polarization"? Here are the other words that rounded out the top 10 for 2024. Stay up-to-date on what's happening Receive the latest in local entertainment news in your inbox weekly!The royal family’s ‘brutal’ 2024 as the Windsors faced major health challenges
Manchester City are hurting. These are strange times, on the back of an unprecedented run of defeats for Pep Guardiola and the heaviest home defeat the Etihad has seen. Feyenoord would have been seen as cannon fodder a few weeks ago yet they became the latest opposition to come to the Premier League champions and show that any aura of invincibility has disappeared. The intent is still there from City , and it was another bright start with Erling Haaland unfortunate to see his header come back off the post after 10 minutes and Jack Grealish - starting for the first time since early October - even more unlucky when his goalbound volley was deflected wide by teammate Phil Foden . But a fragility exists underneath, and the longer City went without scoring the more the Dutch side grew into the game. READ MORE: Objects thrown as Man City and Feyenoord fans clash during Champions League tie READ MORE: Man City player ratings as defence self-destructs in Feyenoord draw Feyenoord fans had enjoyed their march to the game from the city centre and were happy to pour salt in City wounds off the pitch as they chanted for Arne Slot and sang You'll Never Walk Alone. That roused anger from the home ends and felt like another way in which the once almighty conquerors had been bumped back down to ordinary. The signs were unmistakably there on the pitch again, with Ilkay Gundogan creative in building attacks but again dispossessed and bypassed too easily when he tried to prevent them. After half an hour, Ederson had to boot the ball aimlessly high up the pitch under pressure in a sight that can't be seen more than a few times a season but shows the struggle the team are battling through. The next time the ball would be booted with that ferocity it came from Erling Haaland just after he had put City ahead in the game. The first half was tapering out when a soft penalty was given following a scramble at a City corner, and the Norwegian duly dispatched the spot-kick - becoming the youngest to ever score 45 Champions League goals in the process. Haaland had hit the penalty with power, but he absolutely lashed the ball back into the net as it came out in what marked an unusual celebration for him and felt like a release. He would not have had such a burden on him this season if more teammates had been capable of finding the net. The fortune from the penalty was followed by a stroke of luck at the beginning of the second half and a goal that did not come from City's No.9. Gundogan's effort from a corner would surely have tested goalkeeper Timon Wellenreuther but the way the ball deflected off David Hancko made it a certain goal. After so many games recently where they have been poor in the second half - in their last Champions League game at Sporting in particular - here was another welcome release for City and they jumped at it with both hands. Within minutes, Gundogan had set Matheus Nunes free to run clear and cross for Haaland to finish a move that the Blues would be proud of in their pomp. Here they were, not just winning but winning comfortably. Up to fifth in the Champions League table (albeit having played a game more than half of the 36 teams), things looked a lot more rosy. So of course it didn't end that way. Anis Hadj Moussa capitalised on an awful Gvardiol pass to round Ederson in the 75th minutes and after putting the home team on the ropes Feyenoord made things more interesting with Santiago Gimenez taking advantage of more sloppy defending. Everything was tight again, and the tension returned to the stands. Even from a position of such comfort, City had shown yet again how brittle they are. Guardiola sensed this, clapping above his head as the second Feyenoord goal went in to try and bolster a side that had seen all of the confidence drain from them. It didn't work. Again. The ball was chipped over the top, Ederson came out rashly and Hancko was there to head in Paixao's cross ahead of Lewis for a remarkable comeback and another sorry display for City; a team photo on the pitch after the game from Feyenoord felt like a proper humbling. Avoiding a sixth consecutive defeat is little consolation for another defeat that has left them numb. Guardiola may be worried about player fatigue but right now City look like they are heading for the nightmare scenario of at least two extra games in the form of a play-off to reach the Champions League last-16. Before that, they have to stop more pain coming domestically - starting at Anfield on Sunday. Wounded like they have never known, City have never more needed a release.None
Bishop’s three knocks signify reopening of Notre Dame five years after blazeTrump’s controversial designees questioned on Capitol Hill
WASHINGTON (AP) — Former Rep. Matt Gaetz said Friday that he will not be returning to Congress after withdrawing his name from consideration to be attorney general under President-elect Donald Trump amid growing allegations of sexual misconduct. “I’m still going to be in the fight, but it’s going to be from a new perch. I do not intend to join the 119th Congress,” Gaetz told conservative commentator Charlie Kirk, adding that he has “some other goals in life that I’m eager to pursue with my wife and my family.” The announcement comes a day after Gaetz, a Florida Republican, stepped aside from the Cabinet nomination process amid growing fallout from federal and House Ethics investigations that cast doubt on his ability to be confirmed as the nation’s chief federal law enforcement officer. The 42-year-old has vehemently denied the allegations against him. Gaetz's nomination as attorney general had stunned many career lawyers inside the Justice Department, but reflected Trump's desire to place a loyalist in a department he has marked for retribution following the criminal cases against him. Hours after Gaetz withdrew, Trump nominated Pam Bondi, the former Florida attorney general, who would come to the job with years of legal work under her belt and that other trait Trump prizes above all: loyalty. It's unclear what's next for Gaetz, who is no longer a member of the House. He surprised colleagues by resigning from Congress the same day that Trump nominated him for attorney general. Some speculated he could still be sworn into office for another two-year term on Jan. 3, given that he had just won reelection earlier this month. But Gaetz, who has been in state and national politics for 14 years, said he's done with Congress. “I think that eight years is probably enough time in the United States Congress," he said."Once upon a time, in the Land of the Free, there lived a wizard called Kash the Distinguished Discoverer," reads the opening line of The Plot Against The King . It's the first in a trilogy of children's books written by President-elect Donald Trump's pick to lead the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Kash Patel . In the books, Kash the wizard helps a noble hero named "King Donald" foil characters like "Hillary Queenton"' and "Comma-la-la-la." The first book features a thinly veiled reference to the agency Trump has tapped Patel to head as "slug stables in a shadowy corner of the castle," run by "Keeper Komey" referring to former FBI director James Comey, whom Trump fired during his first term in 2017. Another book references 2000 Mules , the thoroughly debunked film that falsely asserts the 2020 election was stolen from Trump. The children's books are just one example of how Patel has parlayed his time serving in various national security roles in the first Trump administration to building a brand promoting pro-Trump conspiracy theories and selling merchandise. Those conspiracy theories have also been cited by Patel in past public statements promising payback for Trump's perceived enemies. Patel started his career as a public defender in Florida and later became a federal prosecutor. His work as a congressional aide helping Republicans defend Trump during investigations into Russian election interference in 2016 got him noticed. As a staffer for Rep. Devin Nunes, (R-Calif.), he helped author a 2018 memo that alleged the FBI and Justice Department committed surveillance abuses by omitting information in its warrant applications to monitor a Trump campaign staffer. An FBI internal watchdog report later confirmed errors and omissions on the applications, but found no evidence that the federal agencies acted with political bias. Patel went on to roles at the National Security Council and Pentagon in Trump's first administration. Alex Pfeiffer, a spokesperson for the Trump transition team, told NPR that experience is why Patel's "beyond qualified" to be FBI director. Patel did not return a request for comment. Christopher Wray, the current FBI director, was appointed by Trump in 2017 and still has more than two years left in his 10-year term. On a Sunday appearance on NBC's Meet the Press , Trump was asked if he intended to fire Wray to make room for Patel. "Well, I mean, it would sort of seem pretty obvious that if Kash gets in, he's going to be taking somebody's place, right?" Trump said. "Somebody is the man that you're talking about." A focus on conspiratorial views In addition to writing children's books, Patel has spent the four years since Trump left office on projects closely aligned with his former boss and the MAGA movement. He was a board member and consultant for the parent company of Truth Social, Trump's social media platform. He launched the Kash Foundation, which he has said assists defamation victims and the families of Trump supporters who have been charged for their role in the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol. He also featured the voices of jailed Jan. 6 defendants in a song he helped produce that Trump played at his rallies. Patel described the song as an effort to raise "funds and awareness for the due process that has been hijacked for so many people who were in and around Jan. 6," while critics called it a part of an effort to reframe the deadly insurrection attempt . (Patel has also pushed the baseless theory that Jan. 6 was primarily instigated by the FBI and its informants to hurt the MAGA movement). Patel also became a fixture on right-wing talk shows and podcasts. His scores of appearances include shows hosted by far-right fringe figures such as Stew Peters , who is known for spreading conspiracy theories and hate speech , as well as calling for the death penalty for Hunter Biden, President Joe Biden's son, and Anthony Fauci, the former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases during the COVID-19 pandemic. As a co-host of a talk show for The Epoch Times, a media company known for spreading baseless conspiracy theories, a review by NBC found Patel shared unfounded claims about supposed conspiracies aimed at undermining Trump perpetrated by government officials, the FBI, social media platforms, the media and others. Patel has used his exposure to sell merchandise. He sells K$H-branded wine (some of the proceeds go to charity) and supplements that he claims 'detoxify' the supposed negative effects of COVID vaccines. His foundation sells branded clothes, accessories, playing cards and his books. Patel's book for adults, Government Gangsters: The Deep State, the Truth, and the Battle for Our Democracy , is framed as an insider's tell-all about his experiences during the first Trump administration. He uses the term "government gangsters" to refer to career bureaucrats who he claims are part of a corrupt "deep state." Patel described these "government gangsters" – as well as "people on the radical left and the mainstream media" – as "pure evil" in an interview earlier this year with a conservative Christian YouTuber . The idea of the deep state, which was popularized by Trump and embraced by his supporters, is one of Patel's main talking points, said Russell Muirhead, a political science professor at Dartmouth College who has co-authored books about modern conspiracy theories and democracy. "The deep state conspiracy refers to the idea that a huge, huge raft of governmental officials — many in the executive branch answering to the president — are actually hostile to the president and want to defeat him, want to obstruct him, want to disempower his constituents and his movement," Muirhead said. He said whether someone believes in it or not, the deep state idea functions to legitimize a project of disabling or disrupting parts of government that don't bend to Trump's will. Courting QAnon believers The deep state is also a key feature of many modern, pro-Trump conspiracy theories, including QAnon . Adherents of QAnon claim the deep state works with a cabal of pedophile elites to secretly traffic children and harvest a chemical from their blood . They believe a government insider known as Q is working with Trump on a plan to take down the cabal and left cryptic clues on online message boards. One of those supposed clues, known as a "Q drop," mentioned Patel by name in 2018 with the note, " name to remember " – making him a celebrated figure in QAnon lore. QAnon believers have long been anticipating what they call "the storm," which they expect will include mass arrests and punishment for "the cabal" and members of the deep state. Trump's decision to pick Patel to lead the FBI has been celebrated by the movement's key influencers as a sign " the storm " is imminent. For his part, Patel has been willing to court QAnon believers as he built his brand and platform in recent years. In 2022, after Patel inscribed some copies of one of his children's books with a QAnon slogan, he fielded questions about whether he was a believer. He claimed he used the slogan because of its ties to a movie , but did not distance himself completely, either. "You know, the Q thing is a movement. A lot of people attached themselves to it," Patel told pro-Trump influencer Mary Grace at the time . "I disagree with a lot of what that movement says, but I agree with what a lot of that movement says." Patel has tended not to focus on the pedophile part of the belief system, but he's made more than 50 appearances on at least a dozen podcasts that have either promoted the QAnon movement or shared QAnon-related conspiracy theories. Patel made overtures to QAnon influencers to join Truth Social and helped promote an account called "Q" on that platform. In an appearance on the X22 Report , a podcast and video show known for promoting QAnon, Patel told the host that his "championing cause" was "to get our people and mainstream America listening to your show rather than CNN, reading ... The New York Times and The Washington Post ." When asked about Patel's comments about QAnon and appearances on related podcasts, Trump transition team spokesperson Pfeiffer told NPR, "This is a pathetic attempt at guilt by association." It is not unusual for those in Trump's orbit to wink at the QAnon movement. Trump and Elon Musk, the owner of the social media platform X, who was one of Trump's biggest financial supporters this election cycle, have both shared content related to QAnon in recent months. Muirhead, the Dartmouth professor, noted that Patel seems willing to "embrace the whole train of conspiratorial assertions associated with or even that define Donald Trump." And that includes QAnon. "It delivers him to an audience of sympathetic listeners and watchers," Muirhead said. Concerns about retribution Past comments Patel made promising retribution against Trump's perceived enemies, including for what he falsely alleges was a stolen election in 2020, have resurfaced since Trump announced he wants Patel to lead the country's top law enforcement agency. Patel's threats have also led to concerns that he will try to use the agency to harass personal and ideological foes in a modern version of the practices of the FBI's founding director, J. Edgar Hoover. "We will go out and find the conspirators, not just in government, but in the media," Patel said last year on former Trump adviser Steve Bannon's talk show, War Room . "Yes, we're going to come after the people in the media who lied about American citizens, who helped Joe Biden rig presidential elections — we're going to come after you. Whether it's criminally or civilly, we'll figure that out." Patel has previously sued journalists for defamation. After a former Trump official argued on MSNBC last week that Patel is unfit to lead the FBI, she received a letter from his attorney demanding she retract certain statements she made about Patel's record or face litigation. When asked about these past threats, Pfeiffer, the Trump spokesperson, told NPR, "Kash Patel is going to deliver on President Trump's mandate to restore integrity to the FBI and end the weaponization of the agency." On the campaign trail leading up to the November election, Trump repeated vows to get revenge and prosecute perceived foes. On his Sunday appearance on Meet the Press Trump denied that he would direct Patel to launch investigations against his perceived political enemies but said Patel is "going to do what he thinks is right." When pressed about whether he wanted such investigations to happen, Trump said, "If they were crooked, if they did something wrong, if they have broken the law, probably. They went after me. You know, they went after me and I did nothing wrong." At another point in the interview, he mentioned the members of the congressional committee that investigated his role in the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol and said "Honestly, they should go to jail." Charles Kupperman, a former deputy national security adviser to Trump, told NPR he did not trust Patel when he overlapped with him at the National Security Council and said he believes appointing Patel to lead the FBI would be a mistake. The FBI has traditionally been independent from the president, but Kupperman has concerns that could change. "Kash will be a propagandist for Donald Trump," said Kupperman, who said he did not vote for either candidate in the last election and wrote in a name instead. "He will carry out any orders that the White House president gives him, and he will have an opportunity in the organization if he is confirmed at the FBI to invoke retribution against individuals. And it will not be a pretty picture or good for the country." Kupperman said he worries Patel will focus on rooting out government employees who are perceived as being disloyal to the president. He recalled a 2019 meeting where Trump had proposed Patel do that at the National Security Council, but Kupperman and others pushed back. Now he worries such an agenda could be part of Patel's mission if he were to head the FBI. "It will be a waste of effort and it will take our eye off of the ball of the other problems," Kupperman said. Patel's book, Government Gangsters, includes an appendix of names of people he considers part of the deep state. Kupperman's name appears on the list, though he said that won't stop him from speaking out about how he thinks Patel is an inappropriate choice for the job. "The fact that this individual is making the list, that is another example of why he's not fit to be the FBI director," Kupperman said, adding that he is not impressed with how Patel has chosen to spend the last four years. "Writing pseudo-children's books about the king and so forth doesn't strike me as a strong resume for an individual to become FBI director." For Muirhead, the prospect of having a conspiracist content creator heading an investigative agency raises another alarming possibility. "The FBI could be used to support, to generate, conspiratorial narratives that delegitimate the opposition and empower the regime," Muirhead said.
