Jared Kushner, a White House senior adviser and son-in-law to President Donald Trump, praised himself and the rest of the administration on Wednesday morning for its efforts to reopen the U.S. economy during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Kushner’s comments came after the nation’s death toll from coronavirus surpassed the Vietnam War.
“I think that we’ve achieved all the different milestones that are needed,” Kushner said during an interview on “Fox and Friends.” “So, the government — federal government — rose to the challenge and this is a great success story and I think that that’s really what needs to be told.”
The eyebrow-raising comment is part of the White House’s attempt to clean up its image amid criticism that the President took too long to respond to the pandemic and did not sufficiently prepare for the crisis.
However, Trump’s self-praise comes as COVID-19 cases and fatalities in the U.S. keep piling up to the point where the death toll is now higher than the number of Americans who died during the Vietnam War.
On Wednesday, Kushner also swiped at critics who say it’s too risky to lift federal guidelines urging people to stay inside right now as the country scrambles to mitigate the outbreak.
“The eternal lockdown crowd can make jokes on late night television, but the reality is that the data is on our side,” he said.
But many governors, Democratic and Republican, have thrown cold water on the White House’s push to allow businesses to reopen, as have health officials.
Additionally, none of the states have met the federal government’s guidelines recommending that state economies reopen if the number of cases decline for 14 consecutive days.
Watch Kushner below:
Kushner claims Trump's response to COVID is a "great success story." pic.twitter.com/fmmEQC543k
— TPM Livewire (@TPMLiveWire) April 29, 2020
