Jared Kushner, a senior adviser to President Trump, said Tuesday that most of his White House work involves “cleaning up the messes” left behind by former Vice President Joe Biden.
Kushner, who married the president’s daughter Ivanka Trump a decade ago, made the remarks in an exclusive interview with News Israel 13. He was responding to comments Biden made over the weekend on CBS’s “60 Minutes,” in which the Democrat charged it was “improper” for Trump to appoint his son-in-law and daughter to senior positions in his administration.
“A lot of the work that the president’s had me doing over the last three years has actually been cleaning up the messes that Vice President Biden has left behind,” Kushner told News Israel 13. “I think President Trump is entitled to pick his team. We’ve worked with him for a long time and I think we’ve done a good job at trying to help him be successful.”
“I think President Trump is entitled to pick his team. We’ve worked with him for a long time and I think we’ve done a good job at trying to help him be successful.” – Jared Kushner
Kushner also addressed the House Democrats’ ongoing Trump impeachment inquiry, which has shed light on Biden’s son, Hunter Biden, who reportedly used his father’s name to gain a seven-figure job at one of Ukraine’s largest natural gas companies despite having no prior related worked experience. Hunter Biden worked for the company, Burisma Holdings, at the same time his father, while vice president, was seeking the ouster of a Ukrainian prosecutor who was investigating a top Burisma official.
The impeachment probe stems from a whistleblower’s complaint that President Trump, during a July phone call, asked Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to investigate the Biden family’s business dealings in the country. Trump made the request while the U.S. was withholding military aid but maintains there was no quid quo pro.
Kushner insisted that the president was clear of wrongdoing.
“They’ve been trying to impeach the president for the past three years or get him out of office and they’ve been unsuccessful at that,” Kushner said. “The best thing going for the president is that he hasn’t done anything wrong, and at this point, they’ve investigated him over and over and over again, and I think the American people are sick and tired of it.”
“The best thing going for the president is that he hasn’t done anything wrong, and at this point, they’ve investigated him over and over and over again, and I think the American people are sick and tired of it.” — Jared Kushner
“The president’s record of accomplishments is unimpeachable, and he’s going to continue to do the things that the American people care about,” Kushner continued. “If Congress wants to be a part of the work we do to try to make the country stronger and more prosperous, we welcome them to join us. If they want to play silly games, we’ll obviously deal with that in an appropriate manner, but we’re not going to let that distract us as an administration.”
Kushner, who is Jewish, traveled to Israel on Monday where he met separately with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former military chief Benny Gantz. The two rivals were deadlocked following last month’s Israeli elections, with neither able to easily form a majority coalition, raising the possibility of an unprecedented third election in less than a year. Kushner urged Gantz and Netanyahu to form a government so Israel would be able to seize on the “tremendous opportunities” in the region, including military and business partnerships with Saudi Arabia and other Middle Eastern nations.
“Benny was a great general in the IDF [Israeli Defense Forces] and he did a great job there and served Israel tremendously, and he seems to have a good intention to try and bring good to Israel, and hopefully he will be able to work with Prime Minister Netanyahu and find a way to move forward,” Kushner told News Israel 13.
He also responded to Israeli concerns after President Trump made the call to pull U.S. troops out of Syria, a decision some critics said left the Kurds, who are American allies, vulnerable to Turkey and other forces.
“Anyone in Israel who thinks it has any implications for the U.S.-Israel relationship is badly mistaken,” Kushner said, “because under President Trump, the bond between America and Israel has been significantly strengthened and our intention is to continue to do more of the same.”
