President Donald Trump’s opposition in the media and political class are celebrating Joe Kent’s resignation as the director of the National Counterterrorism Center over the war in Iran.
Kent announced his resignation in a post on X on Tuesday morning, saying he “cannot in good conscience support the ongoing war in Iran” and claiming that pressure from Israel started the war.
Never Trumper Tim Miller, who was Jeb Bush’s communications director in 2016 and hosts the Bulwark Podcast, praised Kent for resigning in the middle of the war.
“Have talked a lot of shit about Joe Kent over the years (deserved) and can’t speak to all of his motivations here but I gotta say its pretty refreshing to see that someone in the administration has a red line on something,” he wrote.
Bill Kristol, another Never Trumper who sought to recruit David French, another Never Trumper, to run against the president in 2016, wondered if others purportedly in the MAGA coalition would follow suit.
“Interesting. How many other ambitious MAGA pols are seeing a path forward in opposing the war?” Kristol wrote.
Andrew Egger, the White House correspondent for the Bulwark, called Kent “groyper-adjacent.”
“Most groyper-adjacent member of the administration jumps ship over Iran war,” Egger wrote.
Sam Stein, the managing editor of the Bulwark, seemed to celebrate the resignation as well.
“wow. a top Tulsi deputy resigns over the war in Iran,” he wrote.
ABC News Chief Washington Correspondent Jonathan Karl was giddy to see Kent resign.
“Something we have rarely seen during the Trump era: a senior official resigning in protest — in this case, resigning to protest the war against Iran,” he wrote.
Rep. Don Bacon (R-NE), who has been a staunch Trump critic himself, blasted Kent in a post celebrating his departure.
“Good riddance. Iran has murdered more than a thousand Americans. Their EFP land mines were the deadliest in Iraq. Anti-Semitism is an evil I detest, and we surely don’t want it in our government,” he wrote.
David Reaboi, who worked to help Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) campaign against Trump in 2024, called Kent’s rhetoric “Absolutely deranged nonsense.”
“Absolutely deranged nonsense. You know this guy’s brain is broken when he has to make up bullshit about the Iraq war. His wife writes for a pro-Hamas site, so you shouldn’t be shocked,” he wrote.
