Vice President J.D. Vance said Wednesday that former Director of the National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC) Joe Kent’s resignation was a “good thing.”
Kent resigned from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence over the conflict in Iran, arguing the country presented no “imminent threat” against the U.S. Vance said officials in the administration were obligated to carry out President Donald Trump’s orders.
“I like Joe Kent, you heard the President of the United States say yesterday that he likes 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 it when people express their views about what should happen, he listens to everybody. That’s one of the great things I like about him is if whether you’re the gardener at Mar-a-Lago or whether you’re the Secretary of State, the president cares about what you think about an issue. He recognizes that everybody has smarts and everybody has wisdom.”
“That said, whatever your view is, when the president of the United States makes a decision, it’s your job to make that decision as effective and successful as possible. And so 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, then it’s a good thing for you to resign and I think that’s exactly right,” Vance continued.
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Kent stated the administration’s America first agenda was diminished by a “misinformation campaign” waged by high-ranking Israeli officials, influential members of the American media and Israel’s powerful lobby in the U.S.
“This echo chamber was used to deceive you into believing Iran posed an imminent threat to the United States, and that should you strike now, there was a clear path to a swift victory,” Kent wrote. “This was a lie and is the same tactic the Israelis used to draw us into the disastrous Iraq war that cost our nation the lives of thousands of our best men and women.”
Officials alleged that Vance opposed U.S. intervention in Iran, though the vice president said Friday that the administration makes decision that “best protect the American people.”
Trump said Tuesday that Kent’s resignation was good since he believed Iran was not a “threat,” although Kent stated that the Middle Eastern country was not an “imminent threat.” The administration has yet to specify any imminent threat that Iran posed to the U.S., but has said that the strikes intended to weaken Iran’s ballistic missile program and destroy its nuclear capabilities.
Top administration officials told congressional members in February that Israel would have acted with or without the U.S. since Iran posed an existential threat to their nation.
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