In an appearance on “Fox & Friends” Monday morning, President Trump’s senior advisor and son-in-law Jared Kushner unintentionally revealed his inner racial bias while attempting to court Black voters.
During the interview, Kushner was asked about rapper Ice Cube’s decision to work with the president on his Platinum Plan that aims to invest $500 million in Black communities. Kushner said he was connected to Ice Cube through “some mutual friends.”
Then, while insisting on how Trump’s policies have allegedly helped the Black community, Kushner inferred that African-Americans are lazy complainers.
“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.”
Let’s unpack this, shall we?
In his comments, Kushner claims that Trump’s policies can help the Black community “break out of the problems” they are “complaining about.”
The statement makes it sound as if systemic racism, inequality, and injustice are something that Black people use as an excuse for problems within the community. It’s a complete dismissal of the everyday reality that Black people face.
Kushner’s comments are completely in alignment with the president, who has been dismissive of the Black Lives Matter movement. Trump has called the movement “an extreme socialist” organization and has referred to its leaders as “fools.”
The second egregious comment that Kushner made was that Trump “can’t want them to be successful more than that they want to be successful.” So, according to Kushner, some Black people don’t care about their own personal success as much as Trump does.
Kushner is leaning into the racist trope that Black people are lazy. It’s a stereotype that conservatives have relied on for years to rationalize their inaction on economic and societal problems faced by African-Americans.
“This dismissive approach to the issues that Black voters care about is indicative of Trump’s callousness and disregard for the lives of Black people,” Democratic National Committee Press Secretary Brandon Gassaway, said in a statement. “We cannot afford another four years of a White House that does not take our voices seriously and tells us to be grateful for whatever scraps are leftover from the bargaining table.”
Kushner’s comments are even more condescending considering the fact that both he and Trump are people who were raised in incredibly rich families that inherited a large portion of their wealth.
According to Forbes, the Kushner family is worth nearly $2 billion.
Reports show that Trump received a $400 million dollar inheritance from his father’s business empire.
Kushner’s comments come as Trump is having a hard time improving his standing with Black voters. A new CBS-BET poll released on October 25, found that only 8% of likely Black voters say they will vote for Trump.
In 2016, Trump received 8% of the Black vote, a 2% gain over the previous Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney.
