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The Bulletin

Joe Kent Resigns, Iranian Threats, and a Victory for Parents’ Rights

The Bulletin

Christianity Today

News, News Commentary, Society & Culture, Religion & Spirituality, Christianity

4.4586 Ratings

🗓️ 20 March 2026

⏱️ 52 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

This week, top US counterterrorism official Joe Kent resigned, saying he could not support the ongoing war in Iran. Charlie Sykes joins Russell Moore, Mike Cosper, and Clarissa Moll to discuss Kent’s claims that Iran posed no imminent threat to the US. Then, Rebeccah Heinrichs from the Hudson Institute stops by to talk about global players in the war in Iran and what’s going on with US allies. Finally, the Supreme Court recently voted to give California parents the right to be informed if their child chooses to gender transition at school. Adèle Keim from Becket joins us to share why California schools were not communicating critical information to parents, and how the Court affirmed parents’ constitutional right to raise their children. ABOUT THE GUESTS: Charles J. Sykes is a political commentator who hosted a conservative talk show in Wisconsin for 23 years. He was the former editor-in-chief of The Bulwark, and is currently an MSNBC contributor. Sykes has written for The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Politico, Salon, USA Today, National Review, The Weekly Standard, and other national publications. He has appeared on the Today Show, ABC, NBC, Fox News, CNN, PBS, and the BBC and has been profiled on NPR. Rebeccah Heinrichs is a senior fellow at Hudson Institute and the director of its Keystone Defense Initiative. She specializes in US national defense policy with a focus on strategic deterrence. Heinrichs currently serves as a commissioner on the bipartisan Strategic Posture Commission. She also serves on the US Strategic Command Advisory Group and the National Independent Panel on Military Service and Readiness. She is an adjunct professor at the Institute of World Politics, where she teaches nuclear deterrence theory and is also a contributing editor of Providence: A Journal of Christianity and American Foreign Policy. Adèle Keim is a senior legal counsel for Becket, a non-profit, public-interest legal and educational institute with a mission to protect the free expression of all faiths. Prior to working with Becket, Adèle was an associate in the appellate practice at Winston & Strawn in Washington, D.C, and she clerked for Hon. Edith Brown Clement on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in New Orleans. Adèle has been featured on CNN, Fox News, Al Jazeera, EWTN, TheBlaze, and MSNBC. GO DEEPER WITH THE BULLETIN: Join the conversation at our Substack. Find us on YouTube. Rate and review the show in your podcast app of choice. ABOUT THE BULLETIN: The Bulletin is a twice-weekly politics and current events show from Christianity Today moderated by Clarissa Moll, with senior commentary from Russell Moore (Christianity Today’s editor-at-large and columnist) and Mike Cosper (senior contributor). Each week, the show explores current events and breaking news and shares a Christian perspective on issues that are shaping our world. We also offer special one-on-one conversations with writers, artists, and thought leaders whose impact on the world brings important significance to a Christian worldview, like Bono, Sharon McMahon, Harrison Scott Key, Frank Bruni, and more. The Bulletin listeners get 25% off CT. Go to https://orderct.com/THEBULLETIN to learn more. “The Bulletin” is a production of Christianity Today Producer: Clarissa Moll Associate Producer: Alexa Burke Editing and Mix: Kevin Morris Graphic Design: Rick Szuecs Music: Dan Phelps Executive Producer: Erik Petrik Senior Producer: Matt Stevens Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0

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Learn more at glue.com.

0:31.4

Thank you. From Christianity today, you're listening to The Bulletin, a podcast about the people, events, and issues that are shaping our world.

0:48.8

I'm Clarissa Mall. Today, Russell Moore, Mike Cosper, and I join with guests to talk about public opinions on the war in Iran, the uptick in homeland security risk and violence overseas, and a new Supreme Court ruling that changes how California schools communicate with parents about their children's transgender revelations. Welcome to the show.

1:14.0

Good morning, listeners. Welcome to our Friday roundtable. On Tuesday, Joe Kent, a top

1:19.3

U.S. counterterrorism official, resigned, saying that he could not, quote, in good conscience,

1:25.2

support the ongoing war in Iran.

1:33.5

Mr. Kent continued, 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.

1:37.9

President Trump had this to say in response.

1:40.3

Well, I read his tape, and I always thought he was a nice guy, but I always thought he was weak on security, very weak on security.

1:48.5

I didn't know him well, but I thought he seemed like a pretty nice guy.

1:52.8

Rather than throw his former boss under the bus, Kent instead took aim at Israel in his announcement,

1:59.3

and it's a tactic we wanted to discuss more today

2:01.8

as we think about shifting public opinion toward the war in Iran. Political commentator Charlie Sykes

2:07.3

joins Russell, Mike, and me for the conversation. Charlie, thanks for being here. It's good to be

2:12.4

here. Thank you. Charlie, for our listeners who might be unfamiliar with Joe Kent, who is he,

2:17.4

and what precipitated his announcement? It's important not to unfamiliar with Joe Kent, who is he and what precipitated

...

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