FBI Director Kash Patel’s abrasive and argumentative appearance before a Senate committee on Tuesday did him no favors as he appears to be desperately attempting to hang onto his job while at the same time enhancing his profile.

That is the opinion of Salon’s Amanda Marcotte who wrote on Wednesday that Patel has been using the shooting death of Kirk at a Utah college last Wednesday as a promotional vehicle to prove to his detractors that he is up to the job despite all evidence to the contrary.

As Marcotte explained, Patel stepped in it with his breathless posts on X about breaks in the case, most of which had to be walked back. He followed that up by flying to Utah with FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino where he participated in a press conference.

As she wrote for Salon, ”If there was one word to describe most of FBI Director Kash Patel‘s public appearances since Charlie Kirk‘s tragic assassination on Sept. 10, it would be “giddy.” Despite claiming the deceased right-wing influencer as a friend, Patel’s affect has been that of a reality TV game show host excitedly hyping this week’s big reveal.”

After joking, “One almost expected him to pull back a curtain to display a surprise guest,” she added that Patel’s appearance on Fox News with host Sean Hannity was even worse.

Describing the FBI director as having the demeanor of a “carnival barker,” she added, “Patel’s Fox appearance would be tasteless camera-hogging for a top law enforcement official at any time. But it was especially disturbing given the FBI director’s alleged friendship with Kirk and the level of seriousness with which Patel claimed the bureau led the manhunt for Kirk’s assassin.”

“From the moment Kirk died, Patel’s approach to the case has been characterized more by his boundless need for attention than by concerns about getting justice for Kirk. The director’s rush to post on X about the case led him to falsely declare that ‘the subject’ had been arrested on the day of the shooting, just before Patel dashed off to dinner at a fancy Manhattan restaurant,” she wrote.

After asserting, “Patel’s attention-seeking isn’t just clownish, it’s dangerous," she explained that despite being America’s top cop, “he’s undermining the FBI’s ability to fight crime.”

“One of MAGA’s toxic innovations is the way it has weaponized narcissism for propaganda purposes. This, of course, flows from Trump, whose uncanny levels of conceit have empowered him to say and do whatever he feels serves his political interests, with full contempt for both morality and shame. But the behavior is functioning throughout the MAGA-sphere, and it’s led by people like Patel. Their ravenous need for attention makes them perfect propagandists in the social media era,” she warned.

You can read more here.