Jared Kushner faced a slew of public backlash after claiming that the United States government’s response to the coronavirus pandemic has been “a great success story.”
Critics of Kushner took to Twitter on Wednesday, April 29, to slam the White House senior advisor following his appearance on Fox & Friends, where he claimed without evidence that “President [Donald] Trump has created a pathway to safely open up our country.”
He went to say that the U.S. has “done more tests than any other country in the world, so we’ve gotta be doing a lot of things right,” despite commercial lab coronavirus testing plummeting more than 30 percent in mid-April, according to Politico.
CNN commentator Keith Boykin called out Kushner for misrepresenting the facts surrounding the COVID-19 crisis in a tweet.
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“With 26 million Americans unemployed, 1 million infected with coronavirus and nearly 60,000 dead in five weeks, Jared Kushner has the nerve to call this ‘a great success story,'” he wrote on Wednesday.
With 26 million Americans unemployed, 1 million infected with coronavirus and nearly 60,000 dead in five weeks, Jared Kushner has the nerve to call this “a great success story.”pic.twitter.com/rBFQZID3SS
— Keith Boykin (@keithboykin) April 29, 2020
The Twitter account for Public Citizen, a nonprofit organization, wrote that it is “difficult to articulate just how unqualified Jared Kushner is for his job.”
Star Trek star George Takei tweeted that “it was better when we didn’t know what you [Kushner] sounded like, dear,” while Daily Beast editor Sam Stein wrote, “Jared’s ‘this is a great success story’ is like Bush’s ‘Heck-of-a-job’ except it’s exponentially more ridiculous and detached from reality.”
It was better when we didn't know what you sounded like, dear. https://t.co/XQGJRnlD5W
— George Takei (@GeorgeTakei) April 29, 2020
Trump tapped Kushner to effectively run the coronavirus task force in early April, explaining that his son-in-law would assist Vice President Mike Pence with supply chain issues.
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Since then, Kushner has come under fire for his handling of the pandemic and for possibly violating several laws. According to the Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, Kushner appears to be violating both the Presidential Records Act (PRA) and Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA) by “using private email accounts with no assurance their communications are being preserved.”
The father of three is also accused of meeting with other task force members in secret, leaving the public without the full knowledge of their activities.