‘He Performed Terribly’: Powerful Conservative Activist Christopher Rufo Calls for Kash Patel’s Ouster

(Jose Luis Magana/AP photo)

Christopher Rufo, the powerful conservative activist and Manhattan Institute senior fellow, called for FBI Director Kash Patel’s ouster in the wake of Charlie Kirk’s assassination and the investigation that eventually led to the arrest of his alleged murderer.

“I’m grateful that Utah authorities have captured the suspect in the Charlie Kirk assassination, and think it is time for Republicans to assess whether Kash Patel is the right man to run the FBI. He performed terribly in the last few days, and it’s not clear whether he has the operational expertise to investigate, infiltrate, and disrupt the violent movements—of whatever ideology—that threaten the peace in the United States,” submitted Rufo at the outset of a lengthy post on X.

He continued:

There are two ways forward. First, we enter a spiral of violence, which would be a catastrophe for the country. Second, federal law enforcement makes a credible plan to restore the civil order, initiates a campaign to disrupt domestic terror networks in all fifty states, and sets them in motion with the goal of preventing further bloodshed, all of which can and must be done in a principled, legal, nonpartisan manner.

We would be wise to take a moment and ask whether Kash Patel has what it takes to get this done. I’ve been on the phone the last few days with many conservative leaders, all of whom wholeheartedly support the Trump Administration and none of whom are confident that the current structure of the FBI is up to this task.

Rufo isn’t the only one on the Right who has registered a complaint about Patel’s performance in recent days.

After Patel took part in a press conference announcing that the suspected shooter was in custody, Steve Bannon assailed Patel for his positive review of law enforcement’s efforts in the case.

“Correct me if I’m wrong, we watched the nine minute press conference yesterday and the pictures that came up and went all over the internet, and it appears the kid had said something to the family, the family had the goods to confront him and the family turned him in. I’m not seeing the great law enforcement work and I’m not, you know, saying there’s not great law enforcement. They all came together, I got that, but this was not through law enforcement work,” said Bannon on Friday. “What I wanna see is some law enforcement people step up to the microphone, give some details and take some questions from the media. I don’t know why Kash flew out there, you know, thousands of miles to give us, hey, we’re working partnerships and our great partnership in Utah.”