Ex-Trump official boosts Iran-linked conspiracy theory US tried to kill downed serviceman

Far-right MAGA Republican Joe Kent infuriated supporters of U.S. President Donald Trump's war against Iran when he resigned from his position as director of the National Counterterrorism Center to express his opposition to the war — which he views as a betrayal of the America First agenda that Trump campaigned on in 2024.

According to Jewish Insider reporter Matthew Shea, Kent shared a social media post promoting a conspiracy theory that the U.S. was "attempting to kill the servicemember whose fighter jet was shot down over Iran over the weekend prior to him being rescued."

On Friday, April 3, a U.S. fighter jet was shot down by Iranian forces. The CIA and the U.S. military launched a rescue operation for the two pilots on board.

Shea, in a Jewish Insider article published on April 6, reports that an April 4 post from Drop Site News "cited a report by Tasnim News, which is linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, claiming that the U.S. had 'lost hope' of recovering an airman whose jet was downed over Iran on Friday and was instead 'attempting to kill him.'"

"The post was then amplified by Kent with the message: 'Praying for the rescue of our downed pilot & the safe return of our Special Operators going in to get him back. [U.S. Air Force Pararescuemen and Combat Search and Rescue] Air crews are top notch,'" Shea reports. "The Iranian-state media claim reposted by Kent came a day before President Donald Trump announced, on Sunday, (April 5), that the lost crew member had been rescued following what he hailed as a 'daring' operation by U.S. forces to retrieve him — contradicting the claim that Washington had been attempting to bomb and kill the missing servicemember."

Kent ran for Congress via Washington State's 3rd Congressional District in 2022, defeating incumbent then-Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler in a GOP primary but losing to Democrat Marie Gluesenkamp Perez in the general election. Kent ran against Perez again in 2024 and lost to her a second time.

The Drop Site News post read, "Iranian state-linked Tasnim News, citing a military source, claims U.S. forces are bombing areas in southwest Iran where a missing pilot may be located, alleging Washington has 'lost hope' of recovery and is attempting to kill him. The source added: 'We will not announce whether the pilot is in our custody or not,' and accused the U.S. of 'not telling the full truth' about the first crew members U.S. claims was recovered."

• george conway
• noam chomsky
• civil war
• Kayleigh mcenany
• Melania trump
• drudge report
• paul krugman
• Lindsey graham
• Lincoln project
• al franken bill maher
• People of praise
• Ivanka trump
• eric trump