Alexis Wilkins, 27, a country music artist and girlfriend of FBI Director Kash Patel, performed the national anthem at President Donald Trump’s Great American State Fair on Wednesday night before a sparse crowd on the National Mall.
Wilkins announced the gig one day prior, when her top Spotify track had approximately 520,000 streams, according to Newsweek.
MeidasTouch’s Senior Digital Editor Acyn Torabi posted a clip of Wilkins’ rendition on X, and multiple users commented with harsh criticism.
Veteran national security journalist Marcy Wheeler, who runs emptywheel.net, wrote on X, “BREAKING: Because Trump can’t get real stars, the FBI Director’s side piece gets a slot!!! Goddess Bless America!”
Matthew Sitman, co-host of the Know Your Enemy podcast and associate editor at Commonweal, also shared his opinion on X, “When I heard Vanilla Ice wouldn’t be participating, I had my fingers crossed she’d step in! It’s a July 4 miracle.”
Right-wing journalist Sara Higdon also questioned the ethics of Wilkins’ performance on X, “Does having the FBI director’s girlfriend getting paid by the taxpayers to perform violate federal ethics laws?”
But Wilkins defended herselfon X, “I am not accepting payment for this great honor.” And alleged, “The Freedom250 entire celebration is on a fundraising arm; neither UFC nor any National Mall celebrations are “taxpayer funded” (you would think, as a journalist, this would be something she would know or at least look into).”
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