{"id":1051138,"date":"2025-02-03T21:31:22","date_gmt":"2025-02-04T02:31:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/democrats.org\/?p=1051138"},"modified":"2025-02-03T21:31:23","modified_gmt":"2025-02-04T02:31:23","slug":"trump-picks-far-right-conspiracy-theorist-with-ties-to-white-nationalism-to-lead-national-counterterrorism-center","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/democrats.org\/news\/trump-picks-far-right-conspiracy-theorist-with-ties-to-white-nationalism-to-lead-national-counterterrorism-center\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump Picks Far-Right Conspiracy Theorist with Ties to White Nationalism to Lead National Counterterrorism Center\u00a0\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In response to Donald Trump tapping Joe Kent as head of National Counterterrorism Center, <\/em>DNC Rapid Response Director Alex Floyd released the following statement: <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDonald Trump is playing politics with America’s national security, picking a far-right conspiracy theorist to lead the national counterterrorism center. Joe Kent has aligned himself with white nationalists and compared abortion to slavery. Trump chose Kent because he will put his loyalty to Trump over the safety and security of the American people.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Donald Trump\u2019s pick to lead the National Counterterrorism Center, Joe Kent, is a MAGA loyalist with ties to white nationalists \u2013 including participating in an interview with a Nazi sympathizer.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

CNN<\/a>: \u201cDespite disavowing White nationalism last spring when one of its adherents endorsed him, a US House candidate in Washington subsequently gave a previously unreported interview in June to a Nazi sympathizer and White nationalist.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhile Republican Joe Kent touted his support for prominent far-right figures like Reps. Marjorie Taylor Green and Paul Gosar and supported MAGA policies, he was speaking with Greyson Arnold, a Nazi sympathizer. \u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cArnold has a well-documented history of making White nationalist, racist, antisemitic and pro-Nazi statements, including once calling Adolf Hitler \u2018a complicated historical figure which many people misunderstand.\u2019 \u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cArnold was pictured in multiple photographs with Kent at a fundraiser in April <\/strong>and has been canvassing for Republican candidates with Washington State Young Republicans, with one recent photo showing Arnold in a Joe Kent shirt according to photos on their public Instagram. \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cKent\u2019s website also features an endorsement from Arizona state Sen. Wendy Rogers who was censured by the Republican-controlled Arizona senate after she gave a speech to the white nationalist conference calling for public hangings.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kent has spread baseless conspiracy theories about January 6, insisting the election was  <\/strong>\u201cstolen\u201d<\/strong> <\/strong><\/a> and that the FBI orchestrated the Capitol riot. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Joe Kent<\/a>: \u201cThe 2020 election was rigged & stolen.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Chronicle<\/a>: \u201cKent called President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris \u2018not legitimate,\u2019 saying he wants to prove the 2020 election a fraud and impeach the duo.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

HuffPost:<\/a> \u201cTwo federally convicted participants in the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol contributed to the congressional campaigns of Republican Joe Kent, a Donald Trump loyalist who has indulged in conspiracy theories about the attack that day and suggested most of the imprisoned rioters deserve pardons. \u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cKent has endorsed many of the election-denying conspiracy theories promoted by Trump. He has insisted that the 2020 election was \u2018rigged\u2019 and \u2018stolen,\u2019 embraced the unfounded notion that the FBI orchestrated the Capitol riot, <\/strong>and promoted Trump\u2019s 2024 presidential run as a way to ensure pardons for an untold number of Jan. 6 defendants he sees as unfairly accused.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Just like Trump, Kent supports a national abortion ban, calling reproductive freedom \u201ca stain on humanity.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Joe Kent<\/a>: \u201cI 100% support <\/strong>Roe vs. Wade<\/em><\/strong> being overturned. I would move to have a national ban on abortions.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rolling Stone<\/a>: \u201cI am totally against abortion. I think it\u2019s a stain on our humanity that it\u2019s legal right now,\u201d<\/strong> Kent told 21 Studios podcast, in an interview on the floor at CPAC in 2021. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFrom there, he went on to compare legal abortion to American slavery:<\/strong> \u2018I remember learning about slavery and learning about segregation and being amazed that there was a time in my parents\u2019 life, who aren\u2019t that much older, that segregation was a very real thing. I was like, \u2018Man, that\u2019s crazy that that happened in their lifetime.\u2019 And then looking back two lifetimes from that, we had slavery. And I\u2019m like, \u2018Man, that\u2019s insane \u2014 that my grandparents, their great grandparents, they grew up then.\u2019 I think there\u2019s going to be a time in our lives when we\u2019re in our 60s or 70s where our kids come up to us, and they\u2019re gonna be like, \u2018So, it was okay with everybody that you could just go kill babies?\u2019 I think that that\u2019s coming very soon. I think abortion is absolutely evil in the way that it\u2019s gone on.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

###<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In response to Donald Trump tapping Joe Kent as head of National Counterterrorism Center, DNC Rapid Response Director Alex Floyd released the following statement:  \u201cDonald Trump is playing politics with America’s national security, picking a far-right conspiracy theorist to lead the national counterterrorism center. Joe Kent has aligned himself with white nationalists and compared abortion […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":293,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1051138","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-press-release"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nTrump Picks Far-Right Conspiracy Theorist with Ties to White Nationalism to Lead National Counterterrorism Center\u00a0\u00a0 - Democrats<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/democrats.org\/news\/trump-picks-far-right-conspiracy-theorist-with-ties-to-white-nationalism-to-lead-national-counterterrorism-center\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Democrats\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-02-04T02:31:22+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-02-04T02:31:23+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/democrats.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Black-Logo-White-Fill-For-Email.png?w=1024\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Shelby Reese\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Shelby Reese\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/democrats.org\/news\/trump-picks-far-right-conspiracy-theorist-with-ties-to-white-nationalism-to-lead-national-counterterrorism-center\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/democrats.org\/news\/trump-picks-far-right-conspiracy-theorist-with-ties-to-white-nationalism-to-lead-national-counterterrorism-center\/\",\"name\":\"Trump Picks Far-Right Conspiracy Theorist with Ties to White Nationalism to Lead National Counterterrorism Center\u00a0\u00a0 - Democrats\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/democrats.org\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/democrats.org\/news\/trump-picks-far-right-conspiracy-theorist-with-ties-to-white-nationalism-to-lead-national-counterterrorism-center\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/democrats.org\/news\/trump-picks-far-right-conspiracy-theorist-with-ties-to-white-nationalism-to-lead-national-counterterrorism-center\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/democrats.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Black-Logo-White-Fill-For-Email.png?w=1024\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-02-04T02:31:22+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-02-04T02:31:23+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/democrats.org\/#\/schema\/person\/6a79beb4f30710331f5f8ad0cb779d64\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/democrats.org\/news\/trump-picks-far-right-conspiracy-theorist-with-ties-to-white-nationalism-to-lead-national-counterterrorism-center\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/democrats.org\/news\/trump-picks-far-right-conspiracy-theorist-with-ties-to-white-nationalism-to-lead-national-counterterrorism-center\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/democrats.org\/news\/trump-picks-far-right-conspiracy-theorist-with-ties-to-white-nationalism-to-lead-national-counterterrorism-center\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/democrats.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Black-Logo-White-Fill-For-Email.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/democrats.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Black-Logo-White-Fill-For-Email.png\",\"width\":1101,\"height\":483},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/democrats.org\/news\/trump-picks-far-right-conspiracy-theorist-with-ties-to-white-nationalism-to-lead-national-counterterrorism-center\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/democrats.org\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Trump Picks Far-Right Conspiracy Theorist with Ties to White Nationalism to Lead National Counterterrorism Center\u00a0\u00a0\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/democrats.org\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/democrats.org\/\",\"name\":\"Democrats\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/democrats.org\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/democrats.org\/#\/schema\/person\/6a79beb4f30710331f5f8ad0cb779d64\",\"name\":\"Shelby Reese\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/democrats.org\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1bcc80f34f9bfa5c0480c4230734bb5bd8755daddce48f94e96eaf9e79accfe0?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1bcc80f34f9bfa5c0480c4230734bb5bd8755daddce48f94e96eaf9e79accfe0?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Shelby Reese\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/democrats.org\/news\/author\/reeses\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Trump Picks Far-Right Conspiracy Theorist with Ties to White Nationalism to Lead National Counterterrorism Center\u00a0\u00a0 - Democrats","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/democrats.org\/news\/trump-picks-far-right-conspiracy-theorist-with-ties-to-white-nationalism-to-lead-national-counterterrorism-center\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_site_name":"Democrats","article_published_time":"2025-02-04T02:31:22+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-02-04T02:31:23+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/democrats.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Black-Logo-White-Fill-For-Email.png?w=1024","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"author":"Shelby Reese","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Shelby Reese","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/democrats.org\/news\/trump-picks-far-right-conspiracy-theorist-with-ties-to-white-nationalism-to-lead-national-counterterrorism-center\/","url":"https:\/\/democrats.org\/news\/trump-picks-far-right-conspiracy-theorist-with-ties-to-white-nationalism-to-lead-national-counterterrorism-center\/","name":"Trump Picks Far-Right Conspiracy Theorist with Ties to White Nationalism to Lead National Counterterrorism Center\u00a0\u00a0 - Democrats","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/democrats.org\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/democrats.org\/news\/trump-picks-far-right-conspiracy-theorist-with-ties-to-white-nationalism-to-lead-national-counterterrorism-center\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/democrats.org\/news\/trump-picks-far-right-conspiracy-theorist-with-ties-to-white-nationalism-to-lead-national-counterterrorism-center\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/democrats.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Black-Logo-White-Fill-For-Email.png?w=1024","datePublished":"2025-02-04T02:31:22+00:00","dateModified":"2025-02-04T02:31:23+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/democrats.org\/#\/schema\/person\/6a79beb4f30710331f5f8ad0cb779d64"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/democrats.org\/news\/trump-picks-far-right-conspiracy-theorist-with-ties-to-white-nationalism-to-lead-national-counterterrorism-center\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/democrats.org\/news\/trump-picks-far-right-conspiracy-theorist-with-ties-to-white-nationalism-to-lead-national-counterterrorism-center\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/democrats.org\/news\/trump-picks-far-right-conspiracy-theorist-with-ties-to-white-nationalism-to-lead-national-counterterrorism-center\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/democrats.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Black-Logo-White-Fill-For-Email.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/democrats.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Black-Logo-White-Fill-For-Email.png","width":1101,"height":483},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/democrats.org\/news\/trump-picks-far-right-conspiracy-theorist-with-ties-to-white-nationalism-to-lead-national-counterterrorism-center\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/democrats.org\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Trump Picks Far-Right Conspiracy Theorist with Ties to White Nationalism to Lead National Counterterrorism Center\u00a0\u00a0"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/democrats.org\/#website","url":"https:\/\/democrats.org\/","name":"Democrats","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/democrats.org\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/democrats.org\/#\/schema\/person\/6a79beb4f30710331f5f8ad0cb779d64","name":"Shelby Reese","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/democrats.org\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1bcc80f34f9bfa5c0480c4230734bb5bd8755daddce48f94e96eaf9e79accfe0?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1bcc80f34f9bfa5c0480c4230734bb5bd8755daddce48f94e96eaf9e79accfe0?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Shelby Reese"},"url":"https:\/\/democrats.org\/news\/author\/reeses\/"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/democrats.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1051138","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/democrats.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/democrats.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/democrats.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/293"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/democrats.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1051138"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/democrats.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1051138\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1051139,"href":"https:\/\/democrats.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1051138\/revisions\/1051139"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/democrats.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1051138"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/democrats.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1051138"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/democrats.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1051138"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}