President-elect Trump’s nomination of Kash Patel as FBI director evoked strong reactions from supporters and critics Saturday night.

Patel’s nomination hints at massive changes the agency will likely undergo during the second Trump administration. As a staunch supporter of Trump, Patel is a fierce critic of government corruption and the so-called “deep state” and has blasted the bureau in the past.

In a September interview with “The Shawn Ryan Show,” Patel said the FBI’s footprint “has gotten so frickin’ big.”

“I would shut down the FBI Hoover Building on day one and reopen the next day as a museum of the deep state,” Patel said.

TRUMP NOMINATES KASH PATEL TO SERVE AS FBI DIRECTOR: ‘ADVOCATE FOR TRUTH’

Trump has not historically been a fan of the FBI, which raided his Florida estate in 2022 and years earlier investigated false claims he was a Russian asset. Most observers expect Trump will demand an agency overhaul by his director.

“Kash is a brilliant lawyer, investigator, and ‘America First’ fighter who has spent his career exposing corruption, defending Justice, and protecting the American People,” Trump said in a statement. “He played a pivotal role in uncovering the Russia, Russia, Russia Hoax, standing as an advocate for truth, accountability, and the Constitution.”

Patel’s nomination was met with instant praise from Republicans. Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., Trump’s pick for U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, called Patel an “America First fighter.” Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Fla., also praised the pick.

“Great choice by @realDonaldTrump,” Donalds wrote on X. “Kash is a patriot and 100% America First.”

Rep. Ronny Jackson, R-Texas, also issued his congratulations.

NEW YORK JUDGE GRANTS TRUMP REQUEST TO FILE MOTION TO DISMISS CHARGES, CANCELS SENTENCING INDEFINITELY

Kash Patel, former chief of staff to the U.S. secretary of defense, speaks during a campaign rally for former President Trump at Findlay Toyota Center in Prescott Valley, Ariz., Oct. 13. (Rebecca Noble/Getty Images)

“Kash was INSTRUMENTAL in President Trump’s first term and will be EVEN GREATER in his second!” the former White House physician wrote. “Time to clean this place up, and Kash is the man to do it!!! MAGA!”

Commentators on the left, however, panned the pick. MSNBC’s Morning Joe previously called Patel the “personification of MAGA rage about the Justice Department and the FBI.”

On Saturday night, far-left commentator Mehdi Hasan accused Patel of being a “deeply strange and alarming and sycophantic figure.” Andrew McCabe, who briefly served as acting FBI director under Trump in 2017 before being fired for allegedly leaking to the media and a “lack of candor,” called Patel’s nomination “a plan to disrupt, to dismantle, to distract the FBI.”

“It’s a terrible development for the men and women of the FBI and also for the nation that depends on a highly functioning, professional, independent Federal Bureau of Investigation,” McCabe said on CNN. “The fact that Kash Patel is profoundly unqualified for this job is not even, like, a matter for debate.”

Trump nominated Patel to lead the FBI. (Getty Images)

TRUMP NOMINATES CHARLES KUSHNER TO SERVE AS US AMBASSADOR TO FRANCE: ‘STRONG ADVOCATE’

Tom Nichols, a staff writer for The Atlantic, told MSNBC Patel is “as dangerous as it gets.”

“I suppose if we still have the ability to be shocked, it’s shocking,” Nichols said. “But I think this is something … many of us saw it coming and, you know, shouldn’t be that surprising. But it’s an incredibly dangerous development.”

Two conditions will need to be met for Patel to take office. Current FBI Director Christopher Wray will either need to resign or be fired, and Patel will need to be confirmed by the U.S. Senate.

Wray has not signaled an intent to resign. On Saturday night, the FBI told Fox News Digital Wray is focused on his work at hand.

Kash Patel, former chief of staff to the department of Defense, greets the crowd during a campaign rally at Minden-Tahoe Airport in Minden, Nev., Oct. 8, 2022. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

“Every day, the men and women of the FBI continue to work to protect Americans from a growing array of threats,” an FBI spokesperson said. “Director Wray’s focus remains on the men and women of the FBI, the people we do the work with and the people we do the work for.”

Fox News Digital’s Peter Pinedo contributed to this report.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the public face of the federal government’s coronavirus pandemic response, is facing criticism on social media over a manuscript published in a top journal where he maintains his position that the virus originated in nature and cites a debunked claim that President-elect Trump told Americans to inject themselves with bleach to stop the virus.

Fauci, along with researcher Gregory Folkers, published a paper in the Clinical Infectious Diseases journal this week with the title, “HIV/AIDS and COVID-19: Shared Lessons from Two Pandemics.”

Fauci, who faced intense criticism for his handling of the pandemic, was critical of Trump’s handling of the pandemic in the paper.

“With COVID-19, the role of political leadership at the highest level – or the lack thereof – was again shown to be critical,” the authors wrote. “As COVID-19 exploded globally and in the United States, President Donald Trump frequently minimized the seriousness of the pandemic, repeatedly claiming that COVID-19 would just ‘go away’ In the first full year of the pandemic (2020, the last year of his presidency) he failed to use his bully pulpit to encourage people to use available ‘low-tech’ tools such as masks/respirators, better ventilation, and physical distancing to reduce the risk of infection.”

FAUCI SAYS WEST NILE VIRUS WAS A ‘HARROWING’ EXPERIENCE: ‘AFRAID I WOULD NEVER RECOVER’

“Trump also gave credence to unproven and potentially dangerous substances for COVID-19 prevention and treatment such as bleach injections, the antimalarial hydroxychloroquine and the anti-parasitic drug ivermectin. Many of his hundreds of communications during the COVID-19 pandemic were missed opportunities for political leadership in promoting policies and practices to mitigate the impact of a raging pandemic.”

The paper also says that “abundant evidence from top evolutionary virologists and leading scientists in other fields strongly suggests that the virus jumped species from an animal reservoir to humans in the Huanan market in Wuhan, China, and then spread throughout China and the rest of the world.” 

LAURA INGRAHAM: WE CAN NEVER LET A FAUCI HAPPEN TO THE US AGAIN

Dr. Anthony Fauci, former Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, is sworn-in for testimony before the House Oversight and Accountability Committee Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Several media outlets have fact-checked and debunked the claim that Trump instructed people to inject themselves with bleach including Politifact, which called President Biden’s accusation “mostly false.”

“Fauci is an embarrassment,” conservative communicator Steve Guest posted on X.

“Oy vey,” National Review contributor Pradeep Shanker posted on X.

“Fauci is out with a new scientific paper on HIV/AIDS & COVID-19 where he falsely claims Trump told people to inject bleach & where he argues COVID-19 has a natural origin (Wuhan lab leak not even mentioned) by citing the same authors who wrote the infamous Proximal Origins paper,” author and journalist Jerry Dunleavy posted on X. 

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Dr. Anthony Fauci, former Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, arrives to testify before the House Oversight and Accountability Committee Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic at the Rayburn House Office Building on June 3, 2024, in Washington, D.C. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Fox News Digital reached out to the NIH for comment but did not immediately receive a response.

Rain is coming in south San Diego, which means higher water levels in the polluted Tijuana River — and, potentially, even worse air quality.

Now, residents worry that the home air filters newly provided by San Diego County won’t be enough to curb the noxious air from the rising river.

And despite increased federal and state attention in recent weeks, local officials and residents say that solutions are still elusive and distant in the wake of the November elections and Gov. Gavin Newsom’s refusal to declare a state of emergency over the situation.

Last month, Newsom visited the decrepit facilities at the South Bay International Wastewater Treatment Plant in San Diego and the refurbished San Antonio de los Buenos plant in Baja California for the first time.

After years of deferred maintenance, the plant in San Diego received an additional $103 million in the 2024 federal budget for repairs that will take years. The Baja plant is expected to start processing sewage soon, and once both plants are online and fully operational, sewage flows are expected to be reduced by 90% when combined with other measures.

Other federal agencies are also investigating the health concerns of nearby residents who have been suffering respiratory illnesses and unexplained stomach bugs. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention arrived last month to conduct a health survey. Local officials and more than 500 residents have signed a petition asking the Environmental Protection Agency to declare the river a Superfund site and look into the presence of hazardous waste in the riverbed.

“Thanks to our partnership with international, federal, and local partners, we are making real progress,” Newsom said in a statement last month after his visit.

For its part, the county Board of Supervisors voted last month to purchase $2.7 million worth of air purifiers for residents, with the money ultimately coming from the California Air Resources Board.

Unanswered calls for a state of emergency

Some critics argue that the politicians haven’t acted with the necessary sense of urgency. Newsom met with Baja Gov. Marina del Pilar Ávila Olmeda, San Diego County Supervisor Nora Vargas and the International Boundary Waste and Water Commission, but local officials and residents felt snubbed.

“It feels like it was just a photo op,” said Marcus Bush, a council member for National City and a member of the Air Pollution Control District who signed the petition to the EPA. No San Diego County mayors or media outlets were invited to Newsom’s news briefing; when asked, the governor’s office offered no explanation.

“I would like to give our governor the benefit of the doubt,” Bush said, but added, “Why aren’t you taking calls or info?” He wondered aloud whether Newsom was dodging questions about his refusal to declare a state of emergency for the region.

All 18 San Diego County mayors signed a letter this year asking Newsom to declare a state of emergency. The California Coastal Commission also voted unanimously to ask the Biden administration to declare a federal state of emergency, but under federal law, such requests must come from the governor. Newsom has rebuffed those entreaties, and the White House seems no closer to making any significant moves forward.

In letters addressing the California Coastal Commission and mayors of San Diego County, Newsom’s office asserted that declaring a federal state of emergency would not accelerate the repairs needed at the sewage plant. The office also said that it did not consider the situation at the river to fit the definition of a natural disaster under federal law.

Residents have argued that a state of emergency could bring the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to clean up and divert the river. Last year, heavy rainstorms washed into the river thousands of tons of debris that took nearly five months to clear and broke several pumps in the sewage system. Some have asked for more efficient trash skimmers that could help prevent waste from clogging the treatment plant.

“Everyone agrees that raw sewage in a river is an environmental and health emergency in crisis, but [Newsom and Vargas] are also actively doing things that undermine the emergency,” Bush said.

The Superfund split

Muddying matters further, the county supervisors voted last month to delay consideration of a petition asking the EPA to declare the river a Superfund site. Vargas, who represents the south San Diego district most affected by the noxious odors, voted in favor of the delay.

The petition was introduced by Supervisor Terra Lawson-Remer, who represents the area along the coast just north of the Tijuana River’s mouth. After the vote, Lawson-Remer joined other local officials to file the petition anyway.

“I moved forward because I think it’s urgent,” she said in an interview. It “would be nice for the Board of Supervisors as a whole to act, but it’s not necessary.”

In the board meeting last month, Lawson-Remer said she was concerned about more pollutants in the river than just sewage. Toxic chemicals and heavy metals have been detected that could be leaching into the sediment — something local officials are not equipped to clean up on their own. A petition is the first step in a lengthy process that could take years, even if the EPA decides the river is eligible for a Superfund designation.

Vargas did not agree to be interviewed. But in the Board Meeting and in public statements, she cited concerns that moving too hastily to petition the EPA could negatively affect property values and local businesses.

The Voice of San Diego news site reported that Vargas voted against the EPA petition out of concern that a Superfund designation could halt her project to clean up the South Bay to create parks for underserved communities.

“I support the spirit of this board letter,” Vargas said last month. But “this has the potential to delay local efforts already in progress and negatively affect the limited recreational space that we already have in South County.”

The board voted voted 3 to 2 to extend consideration of the petition by 90 days and have the county gather feedback and information.

Lawson-Remer said the reasons Vargas cited for the delay don’t hold water. “The health of our families and health of our children is by far the No. 1 concern,” she said. “Property values are secondary.”

An uncertain future

Imperial Beach Mayor Paloma Aguirre has been to the White House twice to speak with Brenda Mallory, the chair of President Biden’s Council on Environmental Quality, to ask for assistance. She plans to make one last plea in person next month.

President-elect Donald Trump previously authorized $300 million to stop the cross-border pollution as part of the U.S-Mexico-Canada trade agreement in 2020. But Trump’s vow to cut federal budgets when he takes office in 2025 has Aguirre concerned about a reduction in disaster relief funding. Lee Zeldin, Trump’s choice to lead the EPA, is also expected to scale back regulations.

“If he dismantles the EPA … good luck to all of us, because I don’t know what the strategy will be,” Aguirre said.

A damaged local economy

Meanwhile, residents say that the pollution has already hurt the local economy. Visitors to Imperial Beach have steadily fallen with beach closures due to the contamination, according to numbers provided by the mayor’s office — to just under 700,000 in 2023 from 2.1 million in 2018.

Local restaurateur Gabriel Uribe has run Baja Oyster and Sushi Bar for 25 years in Imperial Beach, a few miles from his ranch, where he also hosts outdoor parties for quinceaneras and graduations.

Guests have left Uribe’s parties early because the air reeks of rotten eggs, he said, and the air filters from the county won’t solve all his problems. “That is like just a Band-Aid on a wound that needs stitching,” he added.

Uribe, who signed the EPA petition, worries that his property’s value could be affected if a Superfund site is declared, or even that his property could be taken through eminent domain. But he wants officials to act urgently to address his health concerns.

“My chest is wheezing. I have an irregular heartbeat,” said Uribe, who’s gone to the emergency room because he couldn’t breathe.

Deborah Vance, who runs a real estate agency in Imperial Beach, said her business has already been affected by the pollution as prospective buyers have been unwilling to purchase property in the city. She struggled to sell four listings in Imperial Beach this last year, a slowdown that had been unheard of in the past.

“It’s beyond impactful,” she said of the pollution. All of the agents who worked with her, she added, have quit or moved on. “It’s devastating.”