Kent had antisemitic ties -- and defended Jan. 6 riots
His reference to Israel and claims about Jewish Americans’ political influence highlight Kent’s previous ties to antisemitism and right-wing extremism. It’s an antisemitic trope to suggest Jewish Americans have disproportionate control of media narratives.
During his Senate confirmation hearings, Kent acknowledged that during one of his two failed congressional campaigns a political consultant set up a call joined by Nick Fuentes. A popular right-wing influencer, Fuentes has said that Jews are holding the U.S. “hostage” and once proclaimed that “Hitler was awesome, Hitler was right.”
During his 2022 House campaign, Kent paid Graham Jorgensen, a member of the far-right military group the Proud Boys, for consulting work. He also worked closely with Joey Gibson, the founder of the Christian nationalist group Patriot Prayer, and attracted support from a variety of far-right figures.
Before running for Congress, Kent echoed a conspiracy theory that federal agents had somehow instigated the Jan. 6, 2021, attack at the Capitol, as well as false claims that Trump won the 2020 election over President Joe Biden. Kent has called for the impeachment of Biden and an investigation into the 2020 election. He’s also called for defunding the FBI after the search at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home for classified documents.
Kent later disavowed some of his right-wing ties and said he rejected all “racism and bigotry.” During his Senate hearings, he declined to distance himself from his 2020 election denialism.
https://apnews.com/article/joe-kent-resignation-iran-donald-trump-6d87b1f4852913d7d55ff1f195d7fc87