Joe Kent has resigned as director of the National Counterterrorism Center. He should never have had the job to begin with.
Kent explained in his resignation letter that he believes Iran posed “no imminent threat to our nation” and that Israel with the help of Israel’s powerful “lobby” is behind the United States “starting” the war.
These galling, fact-defying claims reveal Kent’s belief in a crank evil conspiracy about Israel and the “Israel lobby,” i.e., the Jews, controlling American foreign policy. It is exceptionally concerning that it was his job to protect the American people from terrorism and he discounts the role Iran plays in threatening the American people as the leading sponsor of terrorism globally. The regime funds, equips, and trains Islamist proxies throughout the Middle East to harass global shipping and attack Americans and our allies. Iran is directly responsible for the maiming and killing of hundreds of Americans since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
Kent’s resignation could have simply stated he does not personally support the war and that his conscience prevents him from continued public service. Instead, he used the position from which he resigned to provide him credibility in an effort to undermine Trump, public support for the war, and the success of the war effort.
There are two critical points to understand in all of this.
One, the political ecosystem that Kent decided to align with, and which supported his rise to influence within the MAGA coalition over the last several years, includes Nick Fuentes and his followers, the so-called Groypers. Nick Fuentes told Tucker Carlson a few months ago on his podcast that he spoke with Joe Kent and supported him and his failed congressional campaign. Fuentes also said that Kent’s campaign manager bought a table at Fuentes’ event and introduced Fuentes to Kent. According to National Review reporter Audrey Fahlberg, Joe Kent’s former campaign manager acknowledged sending texts referring to Jews as “f*c*ing ki*es” and writing “heil f*cking Kent” and “allah f*cking akbar.” Kent also publicly aligned with Fuentes when he launched his unsuccessful campaign. All of this is public information and did not prevent him from attaining a senior job in the administration.
How many more people are serving in the Trump administration share these views or are sympathetic to them? Since Hamas carried out the worst attack on the Jews since the Holocaust on October 7, 2023, the United States has experienced a spike in open antisemitism and expressions of sympathy towards Islamist terrorists. College campuses have been awash with organized protesters chanting “from the river to the sea” and other genocidal slogans against the Jewish people. Since the initiation of Operation Epic Fury, there have been four terrorist attacks here at home: a shooting at a bar in Austin, an attempted bombing in New York City, an attack on the Temple Israel synagogue in Michigan, and a shooting at Old Dominion University in Virginia.
This is a time to clearly and decisively marginalize those who traffic in antisemitic views, not elevate them and place them in positions of authority.
Two, Dana Loesch said it well when she noted that those circling the wagons for Kent’s stand against Operation Epic Fury are not only undermining President Trump now, they are “power-jockeying for 2028.” They insist that Trump betrayed them in taking joint action with Israel in Operation Midnight Hammer to degrade Iran’s nuclear program, and again now in Operation Epic Fury to dismantle the Iranian regime’s ability to threaten the United States and its allies. They ignore the long pattern of Trump’s support for Israel as a valued and highly capable ally, which was a hallmark of his first term. And, they ignore Trump’s support for a world-class military — he recently said he supports a $1.5 trillion defense budget, which would commit the United States to 5% of GDP on defense spending, matching his demands for the rest of NATO — designed not to retreat and pull up the proverbial drawbridge, but to project power across the globe to defend its declared vital interests in the Middle East, Europe, and Indo-Pacific.
Additionally, they discounted Trump’s willingness in his first term to use military force to destroy the ISIS caliphate and other Iranian leaders and proxies sprawled across the Middle East. They also ignore Trump’s decades-long view that the Islamic Republic could not have a viable nuclear weapon, and that military action was a plausible and legitimate course of action if Iran refused to willingly dismantle its illicit program. Trump did not betray them. They simply could not manipulate Trump into becoming what they are.
Tucker Carlson is already planning to host Joe Kent on his podcast today (Wednesday). We should expect them to try to galvanize more opposition to President Trump’s efforts in Iran. They may be mad about not having power and influence on policy now, but we should expect this pernicious effort to continue into election season where they hope to have better luck.
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Rebeccah L. Heinrichs is a senior fellow at Hudson Institute and the director of its Keystone Defense Initiative. She specializes in US national defense policy with a focus on strategic deterrence.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.
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