Jared Kushner puts his foot deeply in his mouth but it's more scary than funny

Laura Clawson

Daily Kos Staff

Wednesday May 13, 2020 · 6:49 AM PDT

2020/05/13 · 06:49

Senior Advisor to President Donald Trump and son-in-law Jared Kushner speaks during a meeting with US President Donald Trump and other Republican members of the US Congress in the State Dining Room of the White House in Washington, DC, on May 8, 2020. (Photo by MANDEL NGAN / AFP) (Photo by MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images) — Jared Kushner

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There is only one possible answer to the question of whether the presidential election will be held on November 3, 2020. That answer is “Of course it will. Elections are the foundation of our democracy and the date of the election is set by law.” That’s not the answer First Son-in-Law Jared Kushner gave TIME magazine.

“That’s too far in the future to tell,” Kushner responded when asked if the election might be postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic. “Nothing that I’m aware of now … It’s not my decision to make. I’m not sure I can commit one way or the other, but right now that’s the plan.” Kushner quickly walked it back—a little—after the interview was released and people noticed the answer.

“I have not been involved in, nor am I aware of any discussions about trying to change the date of the Presidential election,” Kushner subsequently said in a statement to NBC News. His statement was accompanied by “the White House clarifying he knows the election date is set by federal law,” The Washington Post reports.

You could argue that Kushner’s “It’s not my decision to make” was a signal that he knew that the date of the election is not up for debate, except that every other part of his answer indicates that he thought it was up for debate, but he just hadn’t—yet—been part of the discussion.

According to the Congressional Research Service, “The text of the Constitution does not appear to contain a constitutional role for the Executive Branch in such decisions.” But Jared Kushner, who believes that his family’s money, the Harvard degree his daddy bought him, and his marriage to Ivanka Trump make him an expert at everything, didn’t know to just answer “Of course the law will govern the date of the election.”

Kushner’s remarks revived the very real concern that Donald Trump, anticipating a loss in November, will try to postpone the elections. But even Donald Trump knows that—whatever you might privately be considering—you say, at this point in the year, that the election will be on its statutory date. The Boy Wonder, the guy who was supposed to bring peace to the Middle East and fix coronavirus, doesn’t know that much.

Jared Kushner puts his foot deeply in his mouth but it's more scary than funny

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