Former Trump administration adviser Kellyanne Conway, in a new White House memoir, trashes one-time presidential son-in-law Jared Kushner as a “shrewd and calculating” power-hungry backstabber.
The ex-White House communications director pulls no punches regarding Ivanka Trump’s husband, saying he was a master of White House office politics who constantly sought to add to his portfolio without accepting any accountability.
“There was no subject he considered beyond his expertise. If Martian attacks had come across the radar, he would have happily added them to his ever-bulging portfolio,” she writes. “He’d have made sure you knew he’d exiled the Martians to Uranus.”
The Washington Post obtained an early copy of thebook, “Here’s the Deal,” which went on sale May 24. The 512-page book is published by Threshold Editions, an imprint of Simon & Schuster.
“He misread the Constitution in one crucial respect, thinking that all power not given to the federal government was reserved to him,” she added.
Conway cuttingly calls Kushner “a man of knowing nods, quizzical looks, and sidebar inquiries.”
“No matter how disastrous a personnel change or legislative attempt may be, [Kushner knew] he was unlikely to be held accountable for it,” Conway writes.
Unlike other Trump memoirs, Conway steers clear of criticizing former President Donald Trump himself.
Conway left the White House in the MAGA leader’s good graces and has remained close to him ever since.
Her marriage to #NeverTrump conservative lawyer George Conway was a longtime point of controversy, with the former president regularly skewering the couple on social media, even as Kellyanne Conway remained in his inner circle.
She writes that in 2019, Ivanka Trump went so far as to pass her a note with “the names of two local doctors who specialized in couples therapy.”
Kushner and Ivanka Trump both served as senior White House advisers in a significant break with the tradition that bars such all-in-the-family arrangements.
Kushner amassed a policy portfolio that included a seemingly unrelated grab bag of topics, including criminal justice reform, Middle East peace, the opioid epidemic, streamlining bureaucracy and COVID-related health procurement.
Conway says Kushner unsuccessfully tried to elbow her out of his father-in-law’s inner circle because he accused her of leaking to the media, a charge she denies.
