The former director of the National Counterterrorism Center, Joe Kent, called out the conservative “media echo chamber” he claimed helped convince President Donald Trump to go to war with Iran, during a heated confrontation with a right-wing radio host.
“Over the course of the last year, we watched the Israelis through their official engagements with members of our government and the media echo chamber, which I believe you are a part of, move President Trump’s red line from saying that Iran can’t have a nuclear weapon to saying Iran can’t have any enrichment,” Kent told conservative radio host Mark Levin.
Kent, a conspiracy theorist with long-standing ties to far-right extremist groups, abruptly resigned from his position last week in protest of Trump’s war with Iran.
He stated in his resignation letter that Iran “posed no imminent threat to our nation, and it is clear that we started this war due to pressure from Israel and its powerful American lobby.”
Kent doubled down on his stance in a confrontation with Levin, stating, “It was evident that the Israelis still wanted regime change in Iran and they were going to continue to push” after the U.S struck Iranian nuclear facilities in June of last year.
