Trump snubs Jared Kushner's signature accomplishment
Trouble in paradise?
Trump snubs Jared Kushner’s signature accomplishment
The president thinks criminal justice reform is a political loser, and hasn't been shy about saying so.
By GABBY ORR and DANIEL LIPPMAN
09/24/2019 05:00 AM EDT
When President Donald Trump huddled with campaign aides in the late spring to discuss his bid for reelection, White House senior adviser Jared Kushner told his father-in-law he should highlight last year’s historic passage of the First Step Act – a sweeping criminal justice reform bill that eluded previous administrations and has earned celebrity support.
Kushner reiterated the positive selling points of that bill during the Oval Office meeting as Trump campaign officials and White House aides ticked through the president’s achievements, wondering which would resonate most with his adoring base. But Trump wasn’t interested and told Kushner he didn’t think his core voters would care much about a bipartisan deal for which he’s since accused Democrats of trying to steal credit.
Kushner, whose own father spent more than a year in federal prison, worked closely with Democratic and Republican senators to get the criminal justice reform bill over the finish line last year – often telling his tough-on-crime boss it was worth expending political capital to seize a rare opportunity to overcome the deeply partisan divide on Capitol Hill and solidify his image as a pragmatic dealmaker.
But now, Trump “is telling people he’s mad” at how criminal justice reform has panned out, according to a person close to the president. “He’s really mad that he did it. He’s saying that he’s furious at Jared because Jared is telling him he’s going to get all these votes of all these felons.”
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https://www.politico.com/story/2019/09/24/trump-kushner-criminal-justice-snub-1507285
