John Bolton likens Kash Patel to Stalin's right-hand man following Trump's FBI appointment.

John Bolton advised the Senate to reject Trump's nomination of Kash Patel for FBI director, likening the action to Stalin's terror regime.

On X Sunday morning, "Meet the Press" anchor Kristin Welker shared a statement from Bolton, who served during the first Trump administration, about the pick.

"Trump has appointed Kash Patel to be his Lavrenty Beria," the statement read. "Luckily, the FBI is not the NKVD."

"The Senate should reject this nomination 100-0," Bolton added.

Lavrentiy Beria, the head of the Soviet secret police under Stalin, is one of the most infamous figures in Russian history due to his role in organizing and implementing widespread surveillance, repression, ethnic purges, and terror during Stalin's rule.

The nomination of an outsider to lead the FBI caused ripples in Washington over the weekend, with Trump praising Patel as a "brilliant lawyer, investigator, and 'America First' fighter."

In the first Trump administration, Patel served as the senior director for counterterrorism at the National Security Council. He is viewed as a Trump supporter who will bring about significant changes to the FBI if appointed.

In a September interview with "The Shawn Ryan Show," Patel stated that he would shut down the FBI Hoover Building on his first day in office and reopen it the next day as a museum of the deep state. Additionally, he wrote a book titled "Government Gangsters: The Deep State, the Truth, and the Battle for Our Democracy."

Bolton has previously criticized Trump's nomination of Matt Gaetz for U.S. attorney general, calling it the worst Cabinet position nomination in American history.

Bolton advised the Senate's new leadership to inform the president-elect that he is putting Republican senators at risk by pushing for a vote on Gaetz's nomination. The leadership should demand that this nomination be withdrawn, he added.