‘I Like Joe Kent’: JD Vance Addresses Trump Official’s Fiery Iran Protest Resignation, Insists It Was ‘Good Thing’

Vice President JD Vance insisted on Wednesday that the resignation of Joe Kent from the administration was a “good thing” because officials need to fall in line and back President Donald Trump’s Iran plans.

Vance spoke to voters in Auburn Hills, Michigan on Wednesday in a talk mostly focused on the economy. The vice president also addressed the explosive resignation of Kent, Trump’s appointed director of the National Counterterrorism Center. Kent said in a public statement that he was resigning over U.S. strikes against Iran, arguing the country posed no “imminent threat” and suggesting the strikes were more motivated by Israel.

“The president has said this, I’ve said this, nobody likes war,” Vance told a voter who asked about Kent and the “consequences” of the Iran situation.

Vance argued the Iran situation will not turn into a drawn-out, boots-on-the-ground conflict like Iraq and Afghanistan, as many critics fear.

On Kent, he said a “difference of opinion” is fine in the administration, but everyone needs to be working to make Trump’s agenda “successful” when it comes to Iran.

“If you are on the team and you can’t help implement the decisions of his administration, he has the right to make those decisions, then it’s a good thing for you to resign,” he said. “And I think that’s exactly right. It’s fine to disagree, but once the president makes a decision, it’s up to everybody who serves in his administration to make it as successful as possible.”

Vance said he personally likes Kent.

“I know Joe Kent a little bit. I like Joe Kent. You heard the President of the United States say yesterday that he likes Joe Kent too. But it’s one thing to have a disagreement of opinion,” he said. “I know the President very well. He welcomes differences of opinion… He recognizes that everybody has smarts and everybody has wisdom. That said, whatever your view is, when the President of the United States makes a decision.”

According to one report, Kent privately told Vance about his resignation before announcing it publicly.

In his resignation, Kent said he could no longer serve in the administration in “good conscience.”

“I cannot in good conscience support the ongoing war in Iran. Iran posed no imminent threat to our nation, and it is clear that we started this war due to pressure from Israel and its powerful American lobby,” he wrote.

Watch above via CSPAN.

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