Trump senior adviser Jared Kushner, who was born into a wealthy family, suggested on Monday that Black people must “want to be successful” so that his father-in-law’s policies can help them.
During an interview on “Fox and Friends” Monday morning, Kushner was asked about rapper Ice Cube telling the network the day before that he plans to work for the President. The rapper told Fox News Sunday anchor Chris Wallace that he had spoken with Trump administration officials recently to collaborate on its Platinum Plan, which aims to invest $500 million into Black communities.
The rapper soon faced backlash for planning to collaborate with Trump, who has vehemently defended Confederate symbols and repeatedly refused to directly condemn white supremacy. Ice Cube’s interview on Fox News happened just days after the President himself touted that he’s the “least racist person in the room” during the final presidential debate last week.
Kushner recalled that he was connected with Ice Cube “through some mutual friends.”
Kushner then said that an “in-depth and respectful policy discussion” occurred, despite their differences, before going on to lecture the Black community on why they should be more appreciative of the President’s policies, which he argued requires Black people wanting to be “successful” if Trump’s policies are going to work for them.
“Again, one thing that we have seen in a lot of the Black community, which is mostly Democrat, is that President Trump’s policies are the policies that can help people break out of the problems that they’re complaining about,” Kushner said. “But he can’t want them to be successful more than that they want to be successful.”
Kushner then insisted that Trump is “seeing ground-swell support in the Black community” because the media and Democrats are falsely pushing “all the different bad things” on the President.
Shortly after Kushner appeared on “Fox and Friends,” he received backlash for his remarks on the Black community, which White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany quickly dismissed.
“It’s disgusting to see internet trolls taking Senior Advisor Jared Kushner out of context as they try to distract from President Trump’s undeniable record of accomplishment for the Black community,” McEnany said in a statement shared with TPM on Monday. “From criminal justice reform and record HBCU funding to record low Black unemployment and record high income increases, there is simply no disputing that President Trump accomplished what Democrats merely talked about.”
Watch Kushner’s remarks below:
Jared Kushner on the Black community: "President Trump's policies are the policies that can help people break out of the problems that they're complaining about, but he can't want them to be successful more than that they want to be successful." pic.twitter.com/SX9vWiAfag
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) October 26, 2020
