‘SNL’ Cold Open: Kash Patel’s Scandal Denials Only Raise More Suspicions

By William Vaillancourt

William Vaillancourt

On Saturday Night Live, FBI Director Kash Patel attempted to put to rest allegations of workplace incompetence and abuse of privileges—only to cause more skepticism about his behavior.

Patel, played by actor, comedian and filmmaker Aziz Ansari, was brought up to the White House briefing room podium by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth (Colin Host), himself the subject of multiple controversies. The FBI director began by addressing the assassination attempt of Donald Trump last week last week at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner.

“We conducted an investigation that could not have been more thorough. We dotted every ‘t’ and bulged every ‘eye,'” he joked, imitating Patel’s stare. “And for those of you who think I’ve done a bad job running the FBI, what if I told you this agency is only six weeks away from pinpointing the exact location of Osama bin Laden?”

The FBI director then noted the historic nature of his appointment.

“I am a trailblazer. I am the first Indian person to suck at their job. Everyone says Indian people are smart, hard-working, incredibly intelligent. I’ve proved without a shadow of a doubt that we can be just as incapable and incompetent as the whites,” he said, high-fiving the defense secretary.

When members of the press asked about his reported drinking, the Trump appointee gave an oddly specific answer, which turned out to be the first of several.

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