Trump Official’s Scorched Earth Resignation Sends Shockwaves: ‘Major Defection’

(AP Photo/Jenny Kane, File)

President Donald Trump’s director of the National Counterterrorism Center, Joe Kent, became the first major administration official to resign in protest over the ongoing U.S.-Israel operation against Iran on Tuesday.

Kent, a former GOP congressional candidate and MAGA commentator, made his resignation public in a scathing letter he posted to social media in which he accused the Trump administration of lying about the need for the war.

“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,” Kent wrote, arguing that Trump’s claims that Iran was soon going to attack the U.S. are nonsense. Kent served 11 combat tours as an Army Ranger, primarily in Iraq, and later joined the CIA. His wife was killed in a suicide bombing in Syria in 2019, which sparked his political activism.

Reactions quickly poured in from across the political spectrum and throughout the media.

CNN anchor Jake Tapper reacted, “NCTC director Kent resigns over war in Iran, and as with some prominent MAGA commentators blames the whole thing on Israel, all but absolving the president of the decision. It’s notable how little agency certain folks give the most powerful elected official in the world.”

Ex-Trump deputy chief of staff for communications, Taylor Budowich, highlighted the split in MAGA by going on the attack.

“Joe Kent is a crazed egomaniac who was often at the center of national security leaks, while rarely (never?) producing any actual work,” she wrote. “He spent all of his time working to subvert the chain of command and undermine the President of the United States. This isn’t some principled resignation—he just wanted to make a splash before getting canned. What a loser.”

Outgoing Rep. Don Bacon (R-NE) added, “Good riddance. Iran has murdered more than a thousand Americans. Their EFP land mines were the deadliest in Iraq. Anti-Semitism is an evil I detest, and we surely don’t want it in our government.”

Below are some more reactions:

https://twitter.com/cmclymer/status/2033906804971786615

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