I organized the June meeting with Joe Kent, with the hope that my friend Julie McDonald would come away with a favorable opinion of the man. While the meeting didn’t accomplish all of that, by Julie’s own admission she found Kent to be, “accessible” and “friendly, engaging and confident.” She also “agreed with him on some issues.” I’d like to address a few of the issues where Julie disagreed with Kent and, I believe, she is wrong.
The two disagree sharply on the events of Jan. 6, 2021. Julie describes it as an “insurrection” while Joe described it as “a Trump rally” and a “phony riot.” The fact is both were in Washington state when the event occurred and both are relying on press accounts to form their opinion. Kent added, “anybody who assaulted a police officer, anybody who broke things, obviously they need to be dealt with because you can’t do that in a free society.”
Kent went on to state, “But people were detained for well over a year without any kind of due process. I think that’s wrong.” Julie countered by quoting the Associated Press as saying that the charge is false, “more than 700 people have been arrested in connection with the riot — and each one has been charged.” While that is true, the New Republic (a liberal magazine) recently stated that 382 of those detained for the Capitol riot are still waiting for trial. The magazine added, “Most of the people waiting are out on bail. Some, however, are waiting within a prison cell; some for more than two years.” I believe that those sitting in a cell for two and a half years have been denied due process and all of the 382 have not received a speedy trial.
Joe Kent rhetorically asked, “Why can the Europeans afford to give their people such great social services? We pay for their security.” Kent noted that the United States is NATO’s biggest funder. Julie countered by saying that NATO “funding is based on a minimum 2 percent of each nation’s gross domestic product, and the United States has by far the largest GDP.” However, the following countries do not meet that minimum two percent, Albania, The Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Slovenia, and Spain. Less than seven countries in NATO have reached the two percent goal. The United States pays for European security.
When the subject turned to border security, Kent said, “We need to build an actual, physical wall.” Julie responded that “I saw the fence during a visit to Arizona, and it’s short enough that even I could climb over it.” While I do not doubt that she saw such a low barrier along the border, the 455 miles that Trump built was an average of 30 feet high. Julie, I’d love to see you climb over that wall.
My friend Julie referred to Trump over 30 times in her three-part column and she has often referred to Joe Kent as a “baby Trumper.” However, to me, this allegation stems almost entirely from the reported actions of Trump — not the actions or policies of Joe Kent. President Trump and Joe Kent remain politically close, but they are also two individuals and should be judged accordingly.
Kyle Pratt
Chehalis
