FBI Director Kash Patel received a lashing on social media for his response to MS NOW, after the network falsely reported that he had traveled to Russia when he was actually in Virginia.
MS NOW, citing two unnamed sources, reported Wednesday that Patel had landed in Russia for a two-day meeting in Moscow and St. Petersburg. However, in reality, the FBI chief was speaking at a law enforcement appreciation event at Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia.
The network later issued an apology and on-air correction, but that didn’t stop Patel from making a sarcastic remark, writing, “From Russia, with Love,” on X, referencing the mix-up as well as the 1963 James Bond film.
The comment was quick to receive backlash, with critics deeming the tone insensitive amid Russia’s war on Ukraine and President Donald Trump’s recent dispute with Kyiv over strikes on Russian oil facilities.
Former White House official Miles Taylor noted, “We don’t have to look very hard for the collusion anymore.”
Celebrity chef José Andrés, whose World Central Kitchen nonprofit has provided aid to Ukraine throughout the war, also called out Patel for the post.
“You should be so ashamed of yourself! #WeStandWIthUkraine,” he wrote.
Activist and author Amy Siskind chimed in, writing, “Thanks for being the laughing stock of the world, you loser.”
Other X users were more blunt with their criticism, with one person stating, “This is as bad as tweeting out ‘From Germany, with love’ during the times of the Nazis… not very cute.”
The pile-on continued, with other X users noting, ‘Trump administration not hiding it anymore.”
“The most deranged four-word tweet in world history,” another user added.
Patel’s post comes as relations between Kyiv and Washington are tense following reports that Ukraine did not receive its usual advanced warning from its Western allies about Russian ballistic missiles, President Volodymyr Zelensky said Wednesday.
Zelensky did not specify which Western partners he was talking about, and President Donald Trump said the U.S. has not stopped sharing intelligence with Ukraine.
However, CBS News reported Wednesday that the U.S. may have intentionally withheld early warnings of Russian strikes on Ukraine that killed six people and left some 600,000 without power.
Russia started launching strikes soon after Trump said Sunday that Russia and Ukraine had agreed to an “energy ceasefire.” While Ukraine briefly paused its drone strikes, Russian strikes continued.
Officials in Ukraine now also fear that U.S. support amid the war is diminishing after Trump made a deal with Russian President Vladimir Putin to import Russian diesel — a move Zelensky condemned as a “betrayal” that helps fund Russia’s war.
Trump also issued sharp criticism of Zelensky, saying on Saturday that Ukraine needed a new president since Zelensky has not done enough to end the war.
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