Joe Kent Quits as Trump's Counterterrorism Chief Over Iran War
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- Joe Kent resigned as National Counterterrorism Center director on Tuesday, writing that "Iran posed no imminent threat to our nation" and that "we started this war due to pressure from Israel and its powerful American lobby"
- Kent, 45, is the highest-level official to leave the Trump administration over the Iran war, having been confirmed by the Senate 52-44 in July and serving less than 8 months
- Trump dismissed Kent in the Oval Office, saying he "always thought he was weak on security" and "it's a good thing that he's out"
- DNI Tulsi Gabbard, Kent's direct supervisor, distanced herself from the resignation in a Tuesday post emphasizing her support for Trump's Iran campaign
- Tucker Carlson praised Kent as "the bravest man I know" and said he "can't be dismissed as a nut," while Rep. Don Bacon and Rep. Josh Gottheimer accused Kent of anti-Semitism for scapegoating Israel
- University of British Columbia professor Paul Quirk told Al Jazeera Kent's exit could be "the straw that broke the camel's back" for Republican support, with midterms fewer than 8 months away
- Kent's first wife, Navy cryptologic technician Shannon Kent, was killed in a 2019 Syria suicide bombing, a personal loss he cited in arguing against another Middle East war
Why it matters: A Trump loyalist with 11 combat deployments publicly accusing Israel of manipulating the president into war is a rare in-house breach from the MAGA base itself. With Republicans facing midterms under 8 months away and Iran criticism already mounting, Kent's departure crystallizes a factional split—Gabbard distanced herself, Carlson championed him—over the war's stated rationale.
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