'Worst of the worst': GOP reamed for rubber-stamping Trump pick with white supremacy ties

The Senate confirmed President Donald Trump's controversial pick to lead the National Counterterrorism Center on Wednesday via a party-line GOP vote: Joe Kent, an Army veteran and failed Washington State congressional candidate who has come under fire for pushing Jan. 6 conspiracy theories and appearing on podcasts with white nationalists and neo-Nazis.

The vote was met with swift anger from Democratic lawmakers and other political observers.

"Republicans just voted to confirm Joe Kent, a conspiracy theorist with white supremacist views, to be in charge of counterterrorism," wrote Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA). "We had all the evidence we'd ever need to know he's not competent or going to do the right thing. Republicans will own this vote and Kent's record."

Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA), gave a furious speech on the Senate floor, saying Republicans “missed an opportunity to hold the Trump administration accountable for openly politicizing intelligence” — a reference to how Kent personally intervened as acting chief of staff for the director of national intelligence to order analysts to redo a report that contradicted Trump's reasoning for mass deportations.

"Hey no big deal and all but... Senate Republicans just confirmed Joe Kent, a conspiracy theorist with alarming ties to white nationalists and far-right groups, to lead the National Counterterrorism Center," wrote Huffington Post reporter Jennifer Bendery.

"I can't say that @CenterStreetPAC accomplished all of our objectives, but one of our main ones was keeping Joe Kent from being elected to Congress," wrote political strategist Jacob Perry. "He's the worst of the worst."