Stephen Colbert advised viewers to not praise ex Counterterrorism Chief Joe Kent a “hero” following his exit from the Trump administration over the Iran war.
During Wednesday’s monologue for “The Late Show,” the comedian weighed in on Kent’s widely reported resignation, in which he claimed Iran did not actually pose enough of an imminent threat to justify deploying the U.S. military.
“Now, the last 3 weeks, I’ve been talking a lot about the situation in Iran, and I want to stop doing that, but Iran keeps being a situation,” Colbert said. “Case in point, yesterday, we got the resignation of Director of the National Counterterrorism Center and home perm cautionary tale, Joe Kent.”
Colbert described Kent’s departure from his position as a “protest” to the Iran war. However, before his studio audience could heap praise onto Kent amid the shout out, Colbert put the once Trump loyalist on blast.
“Now, before anybody sends this guy an edible arrangement in the shape of the word ‘hero,’ keep in mind he suck,” Colbert noted before referencing a PBS News article about Kent’s past. “During his failed 2022 congressional campaign, Kent paid Graham Jorgensen, a member of the Proud Boys, for consulting work. He also worked closely with Joey Gibson, founder of the Christian nationalist group Patriot Prayer. He also blamed Israel for the 2003 war in Iraq.”
He continued: “Now, I’m not saying he’s an antisemite, because a lot of people beat me to it, including one congressman who wrote, ‘Good riddance. Anti-semitism is an evil I detest, and we surely don’t want it in our government.’ That congressman? Don Bacon.”
Colbert was particularly tickled by this revelation, adding, “Bacon is standing up for the Jewish people and he’s not even kosher. He was joined in a statement by Roger Ham Sandwich and Beverly Shellfish Tower.” Watch his full monologue below.
Colbert’s commentary came a day after Kent took to X and shared his resignation letter, which stated, “I cannot in good conscience support the ongoing war in Iran. 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.”
In the aftermath of the news, former U.N. ambassador and U.S. National Security Advisor John Bolton said on MS NOW’s “Morning Joe” that Kent’s resignation was “proof” that there is division within President Trump’s top ranks about the Iran war.
