Joe Kent’s resignation prompted an outpouring of praise and support, but he was also immediately smeared with baseless accusations. People castigated him as a liar, leaker, and antisemite.
Most of these accusations seem to be from people who have never even met him. We’re expected to take the views of those who speak into a microphone for a living more seriously than a hero who completed 11 deployments overseas.
I worked on both of his congressional campaigns in Washington State in roles as a field operative, communications director, and deputy campaign manager. I started volunteering for his first campaign after I graduated high school in 2021. I’ve listened to him give countless speeches and participate in numerous debates, including on foreign policy.
Ron Paul once noted that “truth is treason in the Empire of Lies,” and the aftermath of Joe’s resignation shows his warning is still relevant.
Pundits are telling Americans not to trust Joe Kent. Instead, you should trust the Central Intelligence Agency, which is apparently a paragon of truth.
For what it’s worth, I saw people on X who respectfully disagreed with Joe’s position and did not resort to attacking his character. There is nothing wrong with opposing his position or even disagreeing with his resignation.
It is the smears against his character that warrant pushback.
In the fog of war, critics of intervention are blasted as un-American and traitors — even men who have served their country honorably.
Joe is capable of defending himself. But as someone who worked on both his congressional campaigns in Washington State, I wanted to share my perspective.
Grassroots campaigns, especially when you’re challenging an incumbent, are no easy task.
Some candidates are also lazy, and frankly, I don’t blame them. Who wants to spend hours making phone calls and knocking on doors?
Probably not Joe, but that didn’t matter. He knocked on doors himself. He worked extremely hard — regardless of whether it was hailing in March or sweltering in August — and I have no doubt he was similarly disciplined in his role as National Counterterrorism Director.
One of the key points of his campaigns was opposition to regime-change wars. He has been consistent in that stance. He fought in these wars and suffered immense losses. That doesn’t mean he’s above critique, but deeming him unpatriotic is absurd.
He’s also a genuinely good person. You will have difficulty finding a more humble individual, especially in politics.
When people cannot engage with the substance of his argument, they resort to personal attacks. This is the nature of politics and the internet. Critics have slandered his wife, Heather, a wonderful person who also served her country.
Some have insinuated that he resigned to pursue fame and a book deal, because taking a principled stand is so rare nowadays that people assume there must be some ulterior motive. (For the record, he already had a book published in 2024 about his late wife, Shannon.)
The hysteria that broke out after his resignation is utterly bizarre. His letter did not even attack President Trump, who nominated him and endorsed his campaign for Congress. It was, however, critical of a foreign government, causing people to lose their minds.
I believe he resigned out of principle. Chiefly, he was concerned for American lives, domestic and abroad. He resigned because of what this war entails for the United States.
You may still be skeptical, and that’s your right. But ask yourself: who has sacrificed more for America?
Joe Kent?
Or the pundits and newscasters assailing him? What about the politicians who hollowed out our country, opened our borders, and pushed for disastrous regime-change wars?
I’d encourage you to watch his appearance on Tucker Carlson’s show, regardless of what you might think of either Joe or Tucker.
And beware of craven opportunists who attack his character. Beware of those who abhorred MAGA until they saw an opportunity to wear its skin and pretend “America First” meant regime-change war all along.
Beware of the neoconservatives in MAGA clothing.
Thank you for reading. Here are a few other pieces I’d recommend checking out:
Are there any voices of restraint left in the Trump admin? Young Voices contributor Jack Verrill details what Joe’s resignation means for Trump’s foreign policy.
DUKE: Iran War’s Biggest Cheerleaders Are Treating Dissent Like Disloyalty
Exactly.
Neocon Chicken Hawks Spread Disgusting Lie To Smear Joe Kent’s Wife
John Loftus is taking down the Empire of Neocon Lies one article at a time.
Like what you’re reading? If so, please consider subscribing to State of the Day or sharing this with a friend. You’d be supporting this newsletter and helping keep independent journalism alive.
If you are already a paid subscriber, make sure to join the conversation in our subscribers-only chat below.
I read your whole article, visited all the links and attached content and did extensive research on Joe Kent, his family and his replacement, and the following is the conclusion that I arrived at.
1. I’m sorry about the attacks on his wife. “Guilty by association.” It’s not fair, yes I agree. Some people are just assholes.
2. Israel does not “depend” on us for their security. The aid and assistance we give them is supplemental. I have heard the Israelis say in videos that they don’t give a shit if we don’t help them defend themselves. In the late 1940s or early 1950s, in the country’s infancy, they were once forced to ask Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin for some money and weapons. They do whatever they have to do to survive, as they have done for longer than 5,000 years. Say what you will about the relationship between Israel and the U.S., but if the Jews walk away from the Holocaust now ready to defend themselves from all of their enemies and at all costs, if they walk away from that experience now ready to defend a piece of land the size of New Jersey that they call home, then the world should just accept that and respect the Jews’ human right to exist, their right to live, and stop attacking Israel. That’s a daunting task if you’re Islamic, African or Middle Eastern, but much, much easier if you’re European or Judeo-Christian.
3. Israel is a country that our nation has a special relationship with, it’s not just a “foreign government.”
4. The United States is the most diverse country on Earth, and by a long shot. No one will ever identify as “simply American” or ever call anything “simply American.” “America” is an idea that we strive toward; becoming “American” is a goal that we all work toward after we arrive here from wherever else in the world. This country’s people will always at least partially identify with whatever part of the world they came from, as is their God-given right. If you live in this country and are Anglo-Saxon, then you will always identify with your ancestors who came here from Germany and England.
5. I was an active-duty U.S. Marine for 5 years. Living, interacting and dealing with people who don’t like you, who don’t like our military, our government or our allies, and who take you and everything you’ve ever done for granted are part of life. You haven’t been where I’ve been. You haven’t done what I’ve done. You haven’t met who I’ve met. Of course you’ll never understand what I’ve been through. You’re not supposed to. I have bad PTSD, so that means I’m 100% VA-disabled. All of my student loan debt was forgiven, my health care is free of charge, and I get paid $65,500 a year to sit on my ass, play with my phone, eat frozen dinners and watch TV. I don’t have a wife or any kids to worry about. Of course you hate me. Of course you envy me. You’re supposed to. It’s only natural.
6. I’m sorry, I don’t intend to watch the whole interview between Joe Kent and Tucker Carlson. They’re both antisemites. They both blame the world’s problems on Israel and the world’s Jews. If I want to watch one antisemite argue with another antisemite, then I’ll just watch Nick Fuentes argue with Candace Owens.
7. I abandoned the Democrats, registered Republican for the first time in my life in early 2018, when I was 31 years old, and first climbed on board the MAGA train. Only now, 8 years later, at the dawn of this new intervention in Iran, am I beginning to have doubts. So, if someone who hated Trump and MAGA until this new foreign conflict began is what you call a “neocon in MAGA clothing,” then that would make me the perfect opposite of that.
8. Joe Kent’s current, acting replacement at the National Counterterrorism Center is a guy named Joe Weirsky who grew up in New Jersey, spent decades serving in the Marine Corps special forces, the Army special forces and the CIA, served many deployments including combat deployments, earned many awards for bravery in combat, and even spent a few years working as an executive at a private company. Impressive credentials but the only problem is, he cherishes our alliance with Israel and, worst of all, and by far, his last name ends in the WRONG-ass 3 letters, so I’m just certain that you’ve got mostly nothing but bad things to say about him. Am I right?
9. I am confident that the Christians of this nation who read their Old Testament and who cherish our relationship with the Holy Land and its people are mostly indifferent toward your negative opinion of it, and I am confident that they always will be.
10. The Iranian regime’s Islamic leaders literally stand on the rooftops and lead crowds in chants of “DEATH TO AMERICA!!!! DEATH TO ENGLAND!!!! DEATH TO FRANCE!!!! DEATH TO SAUDI ARABIA!!!! DEATH TO ISRAEL!!!! DEATH TO THE UNCLEAN INFIDELS!!!! ALLAH IS THE GREATEST, AND MUHAMMAD IS HIS MESSENGER!!!! ALLAH IS THE GREATEST!!!!” as long-range, nuclear ICBMs the size of trailers, school buses and semi trucks roll through the streets, so yes, you bet your ass that Iran directly and imminently threatens NATO and its allies, as well as Israel. Since Islamic revolutionaries seized control of Tehran, surrounded the U.S. embassy there and took hundreds of American embassy workers hostage for well over a year, beginning in 1979, the imminent threat that Iran’s Islamic regime poses to the United States and her allies has only been obvious.
That is all I have to say about this. Thank you for your time.