Public Perception of Jared Kushner

Jared Corey Kushner is an American investor and a senior advisor to his father-in-law, Donald Trump, the 45th president of the United States. Jared Kushner's public role in the White House has been controversial for supposed allegations of nepotism and corruption. There is unanimous consent amongst news outlets that Kushner has a special, controversial role in White House policy. According to YouGov, his position in the White House has been generally considered as "divided".
Allegations of nepotism
As of 2020, Jared Kushner's supposed nepotism has been called by various news organizations, such as NBC, the New York Times, and The Nation. His role in the White House Coronavirus Task Force has also been called into question. Michelle Goldberg, New York Times editor, has opined that his inclusion as senior White House advisor to the president could only be compared to "Utter Madness." Chris Christie, former ally to the US president has criticized the President's appointment of Jared Kushner, calling it the equivalent of a "political hit job". According to journalist Vicky Ward, Jared Kushner's role in the White House incurred in severe conflicts of interest, and that "from the looks of things, the Kushners treated the notions of national interest and service as punchlines", as reported by The Guardian. Jared Kushner has denied any wrongdoing by his part.
Role in COVID-19 response
Jared Kushner's role in the government response to the COVID crisis has been controversial, as he had no expertise in dealing with outbreaks either as a physician or as an epidemologist. According to Vanity Fair, "after assembling the team that came up with an aggressive and ambitious national testing plan, Kushner then appears to have decided, for reasons that remain murky, to scrap its proposal". According to reporting by Vanity Fair, the team assembled with the help of Jared Kushner "had no experience" taking on outbreaks and pandemics, and that Jared Kushner took advantage of the severity of the pandemic on Democratic States, since "they could blame those governors, and that would be an effective political strategy." Jared Kushner has also stated that he was "getting the country away from the doctors", and stated that by April the country's economy would be at the "beginning of a comeback phase". Jared Kushner has been crucial to the hiring of Dr. Scott Atlas, a controversial radiologist.
Bob Woodward, after having attained a conversation with Jared, says that Jared had privately confided to him that "Trump's now back in charge. It's not the doctors.", in response to the COVID-19 crisis.
Jared has claimed he has done a good job regarding the Pandemic Response, and said the US Coronavirus response has been "a great success story".
Security clearance
Jared Kushner attained top-level security clearance in 2018, even though Intelligence Officials and many officials in the White House have put the legitimacy of such action into question. According to the New York Times, John Kelly, White House Chief fo Staff, felt that he had been "ordered" by the President into granting Jared Kushner access to top-secret security clearance. The granting of Security Clearance to Jared Kushner, being President Trump's son-in-law, has raised serious concerns over nepotism by public officials and journalists. Chris Christie, republican politician, has argued that the President has done serious harm to the administration by bringing in a family member into the White House Administration. According to the New York Times, The White House has given contradicting statements over the issue in response. Security concerns were raised as Jared Kushner has never been given a role in public life in the government before his appointment as Trump's senior advisor before.
Allegations of misconduct
There have been alleging reports that Jared Kushner personally profitted off his public role as senior advisor to the president, receiving the equivalent of millions of dollars off PPP loans, and through other means. According to a report by GQ, Kushner's personal businesses have made millions off campaign donations, private favors from the president, and others. The report also claims that Jared, through the private financial Company Cadre, of which Jared Kushner is a founder, "has taken in $90 million in investment." The same report also alleges that, "like his father-in-law, Kushner has refused to completely divest from his business interests while he's working for the federal government."
There have also been claims that Jared has profited off from Pandemic Relief Programs, divesting the money into his private holdings. According to Vanity Fair: "it was only a matter of time before we learned that businesses owned by Trump and by his son-in-law's family received millions of dollars in pandemic relief loans" Jared Kushner claims he has not profited from his senior position and not gained from his role in the White House.
According to the New York Times, Jared Kushner and his wife Ivanka Trump have reported up to 135 million dollars in income in 2018.
Abraham Accords
According to the Times of Israel, Kushner has been an important piece in negotiating the Abraham Accords, in a way that gained praise by some Israelis as being "nimble" and "unorthodox". According to Dennis Ross, "He had the authority; he was smart enough to develop personalized relations", praising his tackling of the international issue. Under Jared's direction, the UAE has come to recognize The State of Israel, which was taken as a surprise by political commentators. According to Politico, in this aspect, Kushner "proved his critics wrong."
Relation to Charles Kushner
According to the Chicago Tribune, Jared Kushner had made concerted efforts in order to grant clemency to his father.
Charles Kushner, Jared's father, has been the recipient of efforts by President Trump's federal pardons. The same report also states that Jared "pushed Trump to back criminal justice reform legislation and has been an integral part of the administration's clemency efforts." In 2019, Charles Kushner, Jared's father, denied any wrongdoing by himself or his son in the White House. According to USA Today, Jared Kushner had given up many businesses opportunities to work with the president, dispelling any notion of conflicts of interest. Charles Kushner has been given a federal pardon by the US President Donald Trump in December 2020.
As a Public Figure
According to a survey by YouGov, Jared Kushner holds a 26% positive opinion publicly, while 36% hold him in a negative light and 15% as neutral. He is described by YouGov as "Intelligent, Extraordinary, Likeable, Constitutional conservative and Handsome."

In 2010, Kushner appeared as a cameo on Gossip Girl.

Main Menu

See Also

Main Menu