Lindsey Graham defends Kash Patel in heated exchange with CBS host

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., had a tense interaction on Sunday during a live interview with Margaret Brennan on CBS’ “Face the Nation.”

Graham told Brennan he was “ready” to vote to confirm Kash Patel, President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for FBI director, and believes Patel’s confirmation hearing “will expose him to be a very qualified man of the law.”

The remarks came after Brennan quoted former U.S. Attorney General Bill Barr’s memoir about Patel.

“Patel had virtually no experience that would qualify him to serve at the highest level of the world’s preeminent law enforcement agency,” Barr wrote in his 2022 memoir.  

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Former U.S. Attorney General Bill Barr is seen during a news conference on Dec. 21, 2020. CBS’ “Face the Nation” host Margaret Brennan quoted Barr’s 2022 memoir while speaking with Sen. Lindsey Graham on Jan. 19, 2025. (Michael Reynolds-Pool)

Graham said Barr was wrong when he wrote it, and wrong now about Patel. He said he takes his advice on the nominee from former Rep. Trey Gowdy, who worked with Patel.

“Kash was a public defender, he was a prosecutor, he worked with Trey Gowdy about the Russia hoax,” Graham said. “So I do think he has the experience. He has the trust of the president.”  

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President-elect Donald Trump has named longtime ally Kashyap “Kash” Patel, who has been a frequent and harsh critic of the FBI, to serve as the bureau’s next director in the new administration. (Reuters)

“I’m ready to vote for him because I know him too. See [you] never asked about the Russia hoax that he exposed,” Graham continued. “People on the right believe that he was part of the solution, not the problem.”

Graham then began to talk about this situation in the Middle East and its relation to the “world stage.”

“You took me all the way to Israel from Kash Patel,” Brennan said. 

Donald Trump shakes hands with Sen. Lindsey Graham following a meeting with Senate Republicans at the National Republican Senatorial Committee office in Washington, D.C., on Thursday, June 13, 2024. (Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

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“You shouldn’t worry about Kash Patel,” Graham responded when Brennan asked about Patel “going after journalists.” 

“You should worry about reporting the news fairly, which you don’t do when it comes to everything Trump,” Graham concluded.

The CBS host then reminded Graham he is a guest on the show because “we wanted to hear you out,” before cutting to a commercial break.