Jared Kushner dodges questions on whether Trump is racist, Saudi crown prince, despite Axios' best effort

(Image credit: Screenshot/Twitter/Axios)

last updated 3 June 2019

In the teaser for Sunday's Axios on HBO, reporter Jonathan Swan pressed Jared Kushner — President Trump's son-in-law and senior White House adviser — on his "close and influential relationship" with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. After noting that bin Salman ordered the murder of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi, kidnapped Lebanon's prime minister, and "indiscriminately bombs civilians in Yemen," Swan asked Kushner, "What do you see in this guy?"

Kushner said he feels that the Trump administration and the Saudi government share "a lot of interests" and "our goal is to pursue those." Regarding Khashoggi's murder, he said, "look, it's a horrific thing that happened and what we've done is call for full transparency. We are working on an investigation to get to the bottom of what happened. Once we have all the facts, then we'll make a policy determination, but that would be up to the secretary of state to push on our policy." The CIA and Republican-led Senate have determined that bin Salman is responsible for Khashoggi's death, Axios notes.

Kushner insisted Trump is "absolutely not" and never was a racist, and when Swan pointed to Trump's lead role in the "birtherism" lie that former President Barack Obama was born in Africa and Trump's promised ban on Muslim travelers to the U.S., Kushner just repeated that he "wasn't involved" in those things.

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Kushner also deflected Swan's questions on why Palestinians would want to work with him on a peace plan with Israel.

Kushner also suggested that the Palestinians aren't "capable of governing" themselves yet. Read more at Axios.

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.