Karoline Leavitt Responds to Joe Kent’s Resignation and Criticisms of War: “His Accusations Have Zero Credibility” (VIDEO)
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt commented on Joe Kent’s resignation letter during a press briefing on Wednesday.
Asked by RealClearPolitics’s Phillip Wegmann about recent comments by Kent, where he said Trump’s “red line” had moved “from saying that Iran can’t have a nuclear weapon to saying Iran can’t have any enrichment,” Leavitt highlighted statements in Kent’s public resignation letter.
Kent, she said, “resigned in disgrace and accused the President of basically being controlled by foreign countries and foreign manipulation, which is a ridiculous and laughable assertion. So, his accusations have zero credibility as far as this White House is concerned.”
When asked about the specific claim of Trump’s shift in policy on Iran, Leavitt did not directly address the claim, stating, “I think the President has been quite clear in what he wants to see from the Iranian regime, which is why he chose to launch Operation Epic Fury in the first place.”
WATCH:
Wegmann: I was wondering if you would respond to some of this criticism of the administration from past allies like Joe Kent, who have said that the President’s Red Line shifted from Iran cannot obtain a nuclear weapon to Iran cannot pursue nuclear enrichment. What is the administration’s response to that criticism?
Leavitt: I think the President and I have both strongly responded to the criticism by Mr. Kent, who unfortunately resigned in disgrace and accused the President of basically being controlled by foreign countries and foreign manipulation, which is a ridiculous and laughable assertion. So, his accusations have zero credibility as far as this White House is concerned.
Wegmann: The question of the red line shifting from no nuclear weapon to no nuclear enrichment, is there any substance to that argument?
Leavitt: I think the President has been quite clear in what he wants to see from the Iranian regime, which is why he chose to launch operation epic fury in the first place.
As The Gateway Pundit reported, Kent resigned from his position as the Trump Administration’s Director of the National Counterterrorism Center last week, citing his opposition to the war in Iran and undue influence from Israeli officials.
“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,” he said in a letter to President Trump.
“Early in this administration, high-ranking Israeli officials and influential members of the American media deployed a misinformation campaign that wholly undermined your America First platform and sowed pro-war sentiments to encourage a war with Iran. This echo chamber was used to deceive you into believing that Iran posed an imminent threat to the United States, and that should you strike now, there was a clear path to a swift victory. 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. We cannot make this mistake again,” the letter continued.
President Trump responded to his resignation, calling Kent “very weak on security,” adding, “When I read his statement, I realized that it’s a good thing he’s out because he said Iran was not a threat.”
The White House Press Secretary also issued a lengthy 450-word response to Kent's resignation, condemning his "absurd" allegations about Israeli influence and highlighting "strong and compelling evidence that Iran was going to attack the United States first."
Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard later came out, defending President Trump's decision to bomb Iran based on his conclusion that "the terrorist Islamist regime in Iran posed an imminent threat."
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