MAGA world was quick to turn on top intelligence official Joe Kent as a “loser” after he resigned in protest at President Donald Trump’s Iran war in a scathing letter that took aim at Israel for dragging the U.S. into the conflict.
The Republican politician turned top aide to Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard posted his letter on X on Tuesday, where he warned Iran “posed no imminent threat to our nation.”
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt rushed to dismiss his claims in a lengthy post on X.
“There are many false claims in this letter but let me address one specifically: that “Iran posed no imminent threat to our nation.” This is the same false claim that Democrats and some in the liberal media have been repeating over and over,“ Leavitt wrote.
“As President Trump has clearly and explicitly stated, he had strong and compelling evidence that Iran was going to attack the United States first,” she raged. “This evidence was compiled from many sources and factors. President Trump would never make the decision to deploy military assets against a foreign adversary in a vacuum.”
She also fired back that the allegation that Trump made the decision based on the influence of others was “both insulting and laughable.”
In his resignation letter to Trump on Tuesday, Kent wrote that the U.S. entered the war “due to pressure from Israel and its powerful American lobby.”
He also accused Israeli officials and the American media of carrying out a “misinformation campaign” to undermine America First and sow pro-war sentiment. He went on to accuse Israel of using the same tactics to draw the U.S. into the Iraq war.
Other MAGA devotees also rushed to push back on social media.
“Joe Kent is a crazed egomaniac who was often at the center of national security leaks, while rarely (never?) producing any actual work,” wrote Taylor Budowich, former deputy White House chief of staff.
Budowich accused Kent, who served as director for the National Counterterrorism Center, of working to undermine the president and declared: “This isn’t some principled resignation—he just wanted to make a splash before getting canned. What a loser."
Kent ran for Congress twice as a strong Trump supporter and was a fierce defender of the convicted January 6 rioters. He was tapped by Trump last February to serve in his administration.
Right-wing MAGA influencer Laura Loomer freaked out in a posting frenzy against Kent in response to his resignation, calling him a “notorious leaker” and “Tucker Carlson acolyte.”
“He was caught leaking President Trump’s private meeting with @marklevinshow to Tucker Carlson a couple months ago and he was told by White House advisors that if he got caught leaking again, he would be fired,“ Loomer ranted.
She went on to predict that Gabbard would be next while also blasting Kent for blaming Israel for dragging the U.S. into the war and the administration being controlled by the Israel lobby.
“This is of course a Neo Nazi talking point. When Kent ran for Congress, you’ll recall he was exposed for associating with Neo Nazis, which cost him his election,” she wrote.
In another post, Loomer raged: “Fire all of the woke Reich narcissists from the Trump admin ASAP. Is this rocket science for the people around President Trump? How many more chances will Trump’s advisors give the freaks at ODNI to sabotage President Trump? What the FK…Do something!!!!"
Far-right Fox News host Mark Levin also questioned whether Kent resigned before he could be fired.
“He’s part of that radical isolationist Woke Right cabal. Watch how the left-wing media use him to attack the president and the military campaign against Iran. In part, that’s why he wrote that letter. I wonder if he was one of the leakers in the administration,” he wrote.
House Speaker Mike Johnson fiercely dismissed Kent’s claims on Capitol Hill on Tuesday and insisted Iran was an imminent threat, as was laid out in the briefings he attended.
“I don’t know where Joe Kent is getting his information, but he wasn’t in those briefings clearly because the secretary of state, the secretary of war, and everyone, the joint chiefs of staff, General Caine, they had exquisite intelligence that we understood that this was a serious moment for us,” Johnson said.
The speaker said he was personally convinced that had the president waited, “we would have mass casualties of Americans, service members and others.”
When Kent was confirmed in the Senate last summer, the vote came down along party lines with all but one Republican voting for him while every Senate Democrat voted against his confirmation.
