Republicans Put Conspiracy Theorist With Far-Right Ties In Top Counterterrorism Job

Joe Kent has pushed white nationalist views and fanned conspiracies about the 2020 election being “stolen” and the FBI planning the Jan. 6 insurrection.

WASHINGTON ― You can’t make it up, folks. Senate Republicans voted late Wednesday to confirm Joe Kent, a conspiracy theorist with alarming ties to white nationalists and far-right groups, to lead the National Counterterrorism Center.

Kent was confirmed, 52-44. Every Republican but one, Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina, voted for him. Every Democrat present opposed him.

A former CIA paramilitary officer and twice-failed congressional candidate backed by President Donald Trump, Kent has regularly aligned himself with far-right extremists.

During his campaign for a congressional seat in Washington state, Kent talked with white nationalist Nick Fuentes about helping him with his social media strategy. He gave an interview to Nazi sympathizer Greyson Arnold, who has a history of making racist and antisemitic statements, including describing Adolf Hitler as “a complicated historical figure which many people misunderstand.” He has downplayed the extremism of the neofascist Proud Boys, whose leaders were convicted of seditious conspiracy related to the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection. He lumped the Black Lives Matter movement in with “child trafficking rings and cartels,” saying they should face “federal terrorism charges.”

Kent has also pushed dangerous conspiracy theories, including the false claim that the 2020 presidential election was “rigged” and “stolen” from Trump, and that the FBI was involved in carrying out the Jan. 6 insurrection. He also falsely claimed that the Secret Service was “in on” last year’s assassination attempt against Trump.