Kash Patel, Donald Trump’s pick to lead the FBI, has made a living hawking products to MAGA loyalists from “King Donald” children’s books to supplements claiming to reverse the Covid-19 vaccine.
Patel, a Trump ultra-loyalist who served as chief of staff to the acting Secretary of Defense Christopher Miller in Trump’s first administration, was tapped for the position on Saturday – despite being a vocal critic of the bureau, previously describing it as the so-called “deep state.”
Following his exit from Trump’s first administration, the right-wing operative has benefited from his close association with the president-elect.
In particular, Patel has flogged a suite of products aimed at the MAGA crowd, bringing in hundreds of thousands of dollars from Trump-aligned businesses.
Here’s a look at his MAGA merchandise ventures:
Covid anti-vaccine pills
Earlier this year, Patel promoted pills that claim to reverse the effects of the Covid-19 vaccine.
Marketed under the trademark “Nocovidium,” the pills from a company called Warrior Essentials actually simply contain common dietary supplement ingredients including turmeric extract, green tea extract and vitamin D.
“Spike the Vax, order this homerun kit to rid your body of the harms of the vax,” Patel said in a Truth Social post promoting the pills in February.
In April, he shared another advert on Truth Social reading: “You were immune to the propaganda, but are you immune to the shedders.”
‘King Donald’ children’s books
Patel has also penned three children’s books as part of the Plot Against the King trilogy, featuring himself as a wizard called the “Distinguished Discoverer” defending “King Donald” from villains.
The three main villains are: “Hillary Queenton,” “Sleepy Joe” and “Comma-la-la-la.”
The first instalment, which Patel called the “first ever children’s Russiagate book,” follows a story that the FBI started investigating Trump’s 2016 campaign’s alleged ties with the Kremlin based on the Steele dossier.
The blurb reads that its a “fantastical retelling of Hillary’s horrible plot against Trump to the whole family.”
The third and final book details King Donald’s return to retake the throne from “Comma-la-la-la“ in what the publisher, Brave Books, describes as “a great way to start a conversation with your kids about the election.”
Patel also authored his 2023 memoir Government Gangsters where he called for a purge of government employees who undermine the president’s agenda.
Trump hailed Patel’s memoir as a “blueprint to take back the White House,” according to promotional endorsements.
Other ventures
Patel’s other ventures include his charity, the Kash Foundation, which was set up to provide legal defense funds to whistleblowers, according to its website.
The organization came under scrutiny last year after Patel paid the legal fees for two of Republican House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan’s witnesses in his bid to prove the federal government had been “weaponized” against conservatives.
The charity’s store also includes a suite of merchandise from Patel’s “K$H” brand, including playing cards with himself as the king and Hillary Clinton as the joker and apparel with Trump’s hair photoshopped on a Punisher skull in a range called “Orange Man Black.”
According to tax filings for 2023, the charity’s revenues rose to $1.3 million last year, from $182,000 in 2022. The foundation listed expenses of $674,000, with about $425,000 spent on advertising and marketing.
Patel also helped produce the song Justice For All, performed by a group of January 6 Capitol rioters held in a Washington DC jail.
The former lawyer is also on the board of Trump Media and Technology Group, which owns the president-elect’s social media platform Truth Social. He also reportedly had a consulting contract with the company paying him $120,000 a year.
