|
Today, Talking Points Memo is out with a new synopsis on “the most extreme house candidate you haven’t heard about”: Joe Kent, the tin hat conspiracy theorist and right wing extremist once again vying to represent Washington’s 3rd Congressional District.
Kent, who has displayed a long pattern of white supremacist and extremist ties, is once again Washington State Republicans’ top choice in the race to take on Representative Marie Gluesenkamp Perez. Earlier this week, the Daily Beast reported on Kent ”shoring up his radical credentials” with his call to defund the FBI.
Read more on Republicans’ latest conspiracy theorist recruit below:
Joe Kent Is The Most Extreme House Candidate You Haven’t Heard About
Talking Points Memo | Hunter Walker | September 27, 2023
-
On the campaign trail, Kent has painted a terrifying picture of a nation under siege from violent terrorists and authoritarians. Kent, a two-time Republican House candidate in Washington state, has described “antifa” as “foot soldiers” for Democrats who stage murders and riots with “impunity.” He’s warned of a radical “trans agenda” designed to “erode the family unit” and replace it with “government.” He’s suggested that the FBI should “target” antifa but also be defunded, brought “to heel,” and replaced with “constitutional sheriffs,” adherents of a controversial movement that has been linked to white supremacists and militia groups.
-
Kent has promoted conspiracies about COVID and the Jan. 6 attack. He’s called the people who stormed the U.S. Capitol “political prisoners” and advanced the notion that “government controlled agents” were really behind the violence as part of an effort to tamp down opposition. Kent has similarly referred to vaccines and quarantines as “tyranny” designed to “keep us afraid, obedient, locked down & dependent.”
-
This terrifying fever dream vision of the country has helped Kent win support from extremists. However, it hasn’t stopped him from getting official Republican Party support or having a real chance of victory in November.
-
During his first campaign, Kent was linked to two prominent Nazi sympathizers. In 2021, he had a phone call to discuss social media strategy with Nick Fuentes. Kent also defended Fuentes when the firebrand was banned from Twitter. The next year, Kent conducted an interview with Greyson Arnold, a blogger responsible for a long list of racist, anti-Semitic, and pro-Nazi commentary.
-
Kent’s ties to extremists don’t end there. At a March 2022 protest against pandemic mandates, Kent shared the stage and posed for photos with supporters of “three percenter” militia groups, a reference to the inaccurate claim only three percent of the population fought the British during the American Revolution. Over four months last year, Kent’s campaign paid a five-figure sum for “consulting” to a man who was identified by law enforcement as a member of the Proud Boys, the militant far-right group whose leaders were convicted of seditious conspiracy in the Jan. 6 attack.
-
One of his top advisers in that race, Matt Braynard, had his own history of extremism. Braynard is one of the most prominent defenders of the people who stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6. He was involved in attempts to audit the 2020 election that fueled conspiracy theories about Trump’s loss and later staged a “Justice For J6” rally in September 2021 where Kent was among the speakers and the Capitol rioters were treated as martyrs. Braynard also has his own links to Fuentes and a history of incendiary statements including repeatedly denouncing what he described as “globohomo” politics and a 2018 tweet where he responded to a news article about a French politician facing criticism for minimizing the crimes of Adolf Hitler and Nazism by declaring: “The world will be a better place when Germany is again proud of its history.”
-
Kent made headlines last year as the national media took note of the fact there was a potential member of Congress with clear links to neo-Nazis and militant groups. This time around, the Democratic incumbent, Gluesenkamp Perez, has attempted to highlight Kent’s association with the far right and his wild, conspiratorial platform.
-
“Based on his long track record of surrounding himself with extremist weirdos, it’s not a surprise to see this trend continue,” Timothy Gowen, Gluesenkamp Perez’s campaign manager said in a statement to TPM, adding, “The contrast in this race could not be clearer: Marie is focused on solving real problems for working families in her district, while Kent is on Twitter spouting off about conspiracy theories and pushing dangerous, zany ideas like defunding the FBI, arresting Anthony Fauci for murder, and legalizing machine guns for anyone.”
Read more from Talking Points Memo’s reporting here.
|
