President Donald Trump has nominated two-time congressional candidate Joe Kent, a former Green Beret and CIA officer, to be the next director of the National Counterterrorism Center.
The National Counterterrorism Center serves as the primary federal organization for analyzing and integrating intelligence relating to acts of terror. According to the agency’s website, the NCTC operates within the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) and helps officials by “analyzing, understanding, and responding to the terrorist threat.”
“As a Soldier, Green Beret, and CIA Officer, Joe has hunted down terrorists and criminals his entire adult life,” President Trump said of Kent in a Truth Social post. “Above all, Joe knows the terrible cost of terrorism, losing his wonderful wife, Shannon, a Great American Hero, who was killed in the fight against ISIS.”
Kent is a Gold Star spouse whose wife Shannon, who was also a career military and intelligence officer, was killed by an ISIS suicide bomber during operations in Syria in 2019. The two-time congressional candidate has long stated that his wife’s death has compelled him to get active in politics in order to prevent more Americans from losing their lives in unnecessary conflicts.
Kent appears on the ‘Shawn Ryan Show’
“Joe continues to honor her legacy by staying in the fight. Joe will help us keep America safe by eradicating all terrorism, from the jihadists around the World, to the cartels in our backyard,” President Trump’s post concluded.
Kent ran as the Republican nominee in Washington’s 3rd Congressional District, losing both times to Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez. Washington Democrats immediately rushed to slander Kent and criticize his nomination over his past political positions. “Washington knows that Joe Kent was the wrong choice for Congress and he’s a destructive choice to lead the National Counterterrorism Center,” Washington State Democratic Party Chair Shasti Conrad said in a statement. “Someone who called for defunding the FBI and promotes conspiracy theories cannot be trusted with our national security.”
Washington Democratic Party Chair Shasti Conrad
Kent, a native of Sweet Home, Oregon, enlisted in the U.S. Army at the age of 18 after he applied shortly before the September 11 attacks. He served in the 75th Ranger Regiment and the Army Special Forces across a 20-year military career that included 11 combat deployments. At the time of Shannon’s death, Kent was serving in a classified counterterrorism unit and planned on continuing his service.
“At that moment, I knew I had to step away from putting myself in physical danger so I could be there for our two young sons. Shannon was killed approximately one month after President Trump attempted to pull our troops out of Syria because we had met our military objective. This attempt to end a war brought out the establishment’s true colors as they resisted him at every step,” Kent said while campaigning for Congress last year.
“Seeing the establishment’s hubris and contempt for a president that represented the country’s will and the people’s best interests, I knew I had to act. However, this time my fight was to defend America First policies. No one asked me to do this. I sought out every opportunity and any media outlet that would give me a platform to use my twenty-year expertise physically fighting these wars to articulate how correct President Trump was,” he continued.
During his interview with Shawn Ryan, Kent explained that he felt his expertise could be best put to use in the federal government. This, he added, is due to the lack of understanding about national security and counterterrorism among members of congress, which leaves them vulnerable to establishment and military industrial complex influence.
