In early April, the sources allege, he had a “freak-out” because he couldn’t log onto his work computer. He reportedly “panicked, frantically calling aides and allies to announce that he had been fired.” It turned out to be a technical error; as of this writing, Patel continues to serve as FBI director. While this story is funny, I have a different theory as to why it went so viral.

I believe it illustrates a widespread suspicion many political observers have about Patel — that he is plagued with a sweaty desire for approval and a constant fear of rejection. This is an administration that is, after all, populated by self-involved personalities, and it’s led by Donald Trump, the biggest narcissist of them all. Even so, Patel stands out for how he appears to crave online adulation and lashes out at any perceived criticism.

Related Trump’s DoorDash grandma isn’t a plant — the truth is much darker Last summer, a similar story appeared in the New York Times. The FBI director, the article alleged, was ordering polygraph tests on bureau officials to ask whether “they have said anything negative about Mr. Patel.” Unprofessional and disturbing as the claim may be, it also provides a hilarious example of how narcissists defeat themselves.

When former agents spoke to the New York Times on Wednesday, they described being initially open and “cautiously optimistic” about Patel. But it’s hard to imagine anyone would retain a desire to like the guy after he made them endure a polygraph to assess his own popularity. Since the Atlantic story appeared, Patel’s childish reaction to criticism has been on full display.

On Sunday night, he tweeted that “the only time I’ll ever actually be concerned about the hit piece lies you write about me will be when you stop.” At a press conference two days later, he repeated his insistence that he’s above it all by responding to a question about the Atlantic’s allegations with, “I can say unequivocally that I never listen to the fake news mafia.” If the goal was to quiet the rampant media and online discussion about his behavior, the move backfired. Instead of quieting the rumors, it lengthened the story’s time in the news cycle. But Patel’s claims not to care are hard to square with his behavior.

On Monday he filed a $250 million defamation lawsuit against the magazine, which is not exactly shrugging it off. If the goal was to quiet the rampant media and online discussion about his behavior, the move backfired. Instead of quieting the rumors, it lengthened the story’s time in the news cycle.

Plus, Patel had to list the allegations in the court filing, pulling them out from behind the Atlantic’s paywall and into the public domain, making it easier for people to read and other journalists to quote. Patel’s best hope is that the lawsuit is dismissed early, because it’s highly unlikely that the Atlantic green-lit a story they knew, as his lawsuit claims, to be full of “false and obviously fabricated allegations.” A similar lawsuit against MS NOW got thrown out two days after Patel sued the Atlantic. Because he seems so hypersensitive about how people see him, I doubt his ego can survive the process of having Sarah Fitzpatrick, the story’s author, and editors from the Atlantic provide evidence for their claims in court.

Then again, Patel’s entire stint at the FBI suggests he doesn’t understand that all his efforts to manifest an image of a smart, cool guy that everyone likes are so ham-fisted that they inevitably backfire. The New York Times report has many examples of this. One agent explained how “social media dominates and controls” Patel’s entire view of how the FBI should be run.

He demanded that the bureau provide him an FBI flak jacket, and he is reportedly so invested in being seen sporting it in public that he “refused to exit the plane” in Utah after his purported friend Charlie Kirk was killed until someone could locate one for him to wear. Agents have complained that Patel uses FBI resources to make sizzle videos of himself engaging in macho-looking behavior at the bureau’s academy in Quantico. One described him “cosplaying as Rambo,” which looked “completely childish.” They also told how Patel abused a trip to Windsor Castle to meet King Charles with a group of both American and British law enforcement agents.

The director was reportedly set on posting a photo of himself and agents on social media, even though some of the British agents who were photographed work undercover. While Patel was eventually talked out of sharing