GOP senator: Kash Patel will lead FBI by 'taking it apart'

Sen. Bill Hagerty (R-TN) revealed Sunday that he supports Kash Patel as President-elect Donald Trump's nominee for FBI director because he would dismantle the agency.

During an interview on Meet the Press, host Kristen Welker told Hagerty that former Trump Attorney General Bill Barr had called Patel unqualified for a senior role at the FBI.

"Senator, how seriously do you take Barr's warnings?" Welker asked.

Hagerty, however, deflected by calling President Joe Biden's administration unqualified.

"President Trump is entitled to name his appointees," the senator opined. "That is exactly what he's doing, and I'm gonna support this appointment."

"He's the one that uncovered for the American public what happened with Russiagate," he continued. "He's the one that can see through the fix here."

Welker pressed Hagerty for an answer.

"So, Senator, you are disregarding what Bill Barr, the former attorney general under Donald Trump, is saying, his warnings that he just doesn't have the experience," she said.

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"I'm saying there are people that are serving in the current administration that are woefully inexperienced," Hagerty repeated. "I think Kash does have relevant experience, particularly when it comes to the mandate the American public has signed of turning these agencies around that have become completely corrupted."

"He's probably the best at uncovering what's happened to the FBI, and I look forward to seeing him taking it apart," he added.

Watch the video below from NBC.