I'll be honest. I haven't watched the Winter Olympics in years. This year, it was a particularly easy choice when American athletes were using the world stage to trash their own country over immigration policy. Seriously, why cheer for athletes who can't stand the country they're representing?
But something changed when Team USA's men's hockey team beat Canada to win Olympic gold — the first time America has taken that title since 1980. It was like all of a sudden the politics evaporated, and something that felt like genuine American pride rushed back in.
Jack Hughes scored the game-winning goal, and what he said afterward was amazing. "This is all about our country right now," he told NBC. "I love the USA. I love our teammates. It's unbelievable. The USA hockey brotherhood is so strong. We had so much support from ex-players, and I'm so proud to be American today."
That's the stuff. That's exactly what the Olympics are supposed to produce — unfiltered, unashamed love of country. It was great while it lasted.
Then the left showed up.
FBI Director Kash Patel was in Italy on official business, a trip planned months in advance. While there, he attended the historic gold medal game and wound up celebrating with the team.
This video is so awesome. pic.twitter.com/kQvK6sYeyN
— Matt Margolis (@mattmargolis) February 23, 2026
How awesome is that? But Democrats and their media allies immediately started clutching their pearls over Patel’s celebration with Team USA. And the funniest part was that they were acting concerned about taxpayer money, framing the whole thing as some corrupt joyride.
Washington Post reporter Carol Leonnig led the charge, tweeting that "taxpayers paid a lot for this fan boy's dream," claiming the FBI had told her Patel was only in Italy for meetings — not the games.
Patel didn't just push back. He dropped the receipts. A screenshot of an email from days earlier showed Leonnig had already been informed that any personal portions of the trip would be reimbursed and that the travel was arranged well in advance.
— Kash Patel (@Kash_Patel) February 23, 2026
Don’t get me wrong, it’s nice to see Democrats suddenly acting like fiscal hawks, even if they’re only putting on for phony outrage. Seriously, these are the same people who spent years defending the most expansive government spending in American history. Now they're scandalized by Kash Patel watching a hockey game and having a beer with the gold-medal team.
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Here's what's really going on. The left can't stomach it when America wins, and they really can't stomach it when conservatives look good doing something genuinely fun and American. That's Patel's actual crime here. He cheered for the USA. He celebrated with the players. The gold-medal hockey team clearly liked having him there. That's an optics nightmare for people who have spent years insisting that Trump-aligned officials are universally despised and incompetent.
I may not have watched a single minute of these Winter Olympics. But I can tell you this — the video of Kash Patel celebrating with Team USA? I could watch that over and over.
