Trump’s nominee to lead counterterrorism efforts has white nationalist ties
Joe Kent, a former CIA officer, has engaged with white supremacists and neo-Nazis
Joe Kent, a former congressional candidate, on Sep. 12, 2024 Photo by Screenshot/Youtube via Joe Kent
By Jacob Kornbluh February 4, 2025
President Donald Trump’s nominee to head the National Counterterrorism Center has ties to white nationalists and neo-Nazis who supported him during two unsuccessful runs for Congress.
In his announcement on Monday, Trump praised Joe Kent, a retired Green Beret and former CIA officer, as a “great American hero” who will help the administration “keep America safe by eradicating all terrorism.”
The Senate would have to confirm Kent to lead the Center, an agency within the office of the Director of National Intelligence responsible for coordinating national and international counterterrorism efforts.
The White House didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
Who is Joe Kent?
Kent, 44, has twice run unsuccessfully for a House seat to represent districts in the state of Washington.
In 2022 during his first bid, Kent was interviewed by a neo-Nazi YouTuber who once called Adolf Hitler “a complicated historical figure which many people misunderstand.” He also engaged with a representative of another white nationalist group, during which he reportedly complained that America was anti-white.
He also met with Nick Fuentes, an anti-Zionist white supremacist and Holocaust denier, to seek his support during a GOP primary. He later disavowed Fuentes’ “politics, especially in regards to our ally Israel.”
During that campaign, Kent was endorsed by GOP Reps. Paul Gosar, a far-right Republican from Arizona who employed ardent followers of Fuentes and has repeatedly associated with white nationalists; and Marjorie Taylor Greene, a Trump loyalist who has been accused in the past of making antisemitic remarks — including her suggestion that a Jewish-funded space laser had sparked wildfires in California in 2018. Kent’s website also featured an endorsement from Arizona state Sen. Wendy Rogers, who was censured by the Arizona senate after she spoke at a white nationalist conference and invoked an antisemitic trope about Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who is Jewish. Kent also hired a member of the Proud Boys as a campaign consultant.
“This guy is, I’m not going to say neo-Nazi, but as close as you can get to that without being labeled that is about what he is,” former U.S. Rep. Adam Kinzinger, a Republican from Illinois, said during a podcast interview in January.
In Kent’s most recent campaign, he had the backing of Trump and House Speaker Mike Johnson. “Joe will be by my side,” Trump said about Kent on a call with supporters.
Kent’s views on Israel, Gaza war
Kent’s views on Israel mirror the mainstream Republican stance since the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel. He said last year he was opposed to a ceasefire in Gaza unless all the hostages were released from captivity. “We need to support Israel,” he said during a televised debate last October, “Let them finish off Hamas and Hezbollah.”
Kent criticized the Biden administration for sending American troops to Israel without congressional approval to operate an anti-missile defense system aimed at intercepting Iranian ballistic missiles targeting the Jewish state. “Potentially, we could get sucked into this conflict if an American is killed manning those systems, if a ballistic missile from Iran hits them, and no one has voted on this expansion of the war,” Kent said at the debate. “So we have to have a limitation and not have U.S. boots on the ground unless that is voted on in Congress.”
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