JD Vance Responds To Joe Kent Resignation
Vice President JD Vance said Wednesday that the resignation of former National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC) Director Joe Kent was a “good thing.”
Kent resigned from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence following the conflict in Iran, arguing that the country posed no “imminent threat” to the United States. Vance said administration officials were obligated to carry out President Donald Trump’s orders.
“I love Joe Kent, you heard the President of the United States say yesterday that he loves Joe Kent too,” Vance said. “But it’s one thing to have a disagreement of opinion. I know the president very well, he welcomes differences of opinion. He likes people to express their views on what should happen, he listens to everyone. One of the great things I like about him is that whether you’re the gardener at Mar-a-Lago or you’re secretary of state, the president cares what you think about an issue. He recognizes that everyone has intelligence and that everyone has wisdom.”
“That said, whatever your opinion, when the President of the United States makes a decision, it is your duty to make that decision as effective and successful as possible. And the President said this yesterday, if you are on the team and you can’t help implement the decisions of his administration, he has the right to make those decisions, so it’s a good thing that you resign and I think that’s absolutely true,” Vance continued.
WATCH:
Kent said the administration’s “America First” agenda had been weakened by a “disinformation campaign” led by senior Israeli officials, influential members of the American media and the powerful Israel lobby in the United States. (RELATED: Neocon Chicken Hawks Spreads Disgusting Lie to Smear Joe Kent’s Wife)
“This echo chamber was used to deceive you into believing that Iran posed an imminent threat to the United States and that if you struck now, there was a clear path to rapid victory,” Kent wrote. “It was a lie and is the same tactic the Israelis used to drag us into the disastrous war in Iraq that cost our nation the lives of thousands of our best men and women. »
Officials have said Vance opposes U.S. intervention in Iran, although the vice president said Friday that the administration is making decisions that “best protect the American people.”
Trump said Tuesday that Kent’s resignation was a good thing because he believed Iran was not a “threat,” although Kent said the Middle Eastern country was not an “imminent threat.” The administration has not yet specified the imminent threat Iran poses to the United States, but has said the strikes are aimed at weakening Iran’s ballistic missile program and destroying its nuclear capabilities.
Senior administration officials told members of Congress in February that Israel would have acted with or without the United States since Iran posed an existential threat to their nation.
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