Former Central Intelligence Company officer Joe Kent by no means received any of his bids for Congress, however due to President Donald Trump, the person with ties to white nationalism would possibly quickly be in command of the Nationwide Counterterrorism Heart.
Kent, who had his affirmation listening to earlier than the Senate Choose Committee on Intelligence on Thursday, has no prior expertise operating an intelligence unit—although neither does his boss, Nationwide Intelligence Director Tulsi Gabbard.
Nonetheless, the Inexperienced Beret veteran has loads of expertise working with white supremacists and spreading conspiracy theories.
In 2021, Kent, who at the moment works underneath Gabbard as her chief of workers, teamed up with recognized white supremacist Nick Fuentes, which he admitted on social media throughout one in all his failed congressional bids. When Trump received the 2024 presidential election, Fuentes posted on X—one of many few social media platforms he isn’t banned from—to make a disturbing publish.
“Your body, my choice. Forever,” he wrote.
Kent has additionally been interviewed by Greyson Arnold, who has mentioned that Adolf Hitler was misunderstood. Kent and his staff later denied realizing who Arnold was on the time of the interview.
In the meantime, Mom Jones journalist David Corn referred to as out Kent on Thursday for his tattoo, which reads “Panzer,” which was a German tank utilized by the Nazis throughout World Warfare II.
And whereas he can deny associations, Kent’s on-line historical past speaks for itself, tweeting forwards and backwards with the founding father of far-right paramilitary group 1st Modification Praetorians. The group, shortened to 1AP, was subpoenaed in 2021 for its involvement within the Jan. 6, 2021, riot.
Shady relationships apart, Kent himself has his personal regarding ideologies. Throughout his affirmation listening to, he advised committee members that he plans to analyze a debunked far-right conspiracy principle that the FBI was concerned within the riot.
Kent, who has overtly voiced his love for MAGA loyalist Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, has an actual affinity for conspiracies like this. Whereas on the congressional marketing campaign path, Kent referred to the COVID-19 vaccine as “experimental gene remedy.
“Anthony Fauci and a lot of his underlings were running amok as unelected bureaucrats, funding gain-of-function research under the nose of our federal government. They were funding the very same people who cooked up the COVID-19 virus in the Wuhan Institute [of Virology] and Fauci must be held accountable for that,” he mentioned.
Extra not too long ago, Kent was included within the group chat within the SignalGate scandal.
“There’s currently ongoing litigation, Senator, so I really can’t give any more details,” he mentioned throughout his affirmation listening to, later including that “no classified information was discussed,” so it was “not a concern” to him.
It feels like Kent will match proper in among the many Trump administration.
