House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) confirmed his private meeting with Jared Kushner, then backtracked and vowed that no one in the “Trump cartel” would get a pass.
Kushner, President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and an influential figure in the Trump administration, met with Jeffries sometime recently to discuss housing, immigration, and cost of living as “potential areas of common ground,” according to a New York Times report published Sunday. After heavy backlash from Democrats, Jeffries ultimately confirmed the meeting in a video statement on X, which he devoted almost entirely to criticizing Trump.
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“Just finished up an event here in the community in Brooklyn, and want to give you a little real talk on this Jared Kushner situation. He asked for a meeting, and I took it to discuss the affordability crisis that exists, that is not a hoax. At the same period of time, I shouldn’t have to say it, but I am: No one is going to get a pass,” he said. “We’re going to hold every single member of the Trump cartel accountable, beginning on day one.”
Jeffries boasted that House Democrats “Battled the Trump administration on tariffs. Battled them on Medicaid. Battled them on Epstein. Battled them on nutritional assistance. Battled them on the Affordable Care Act. Battled them on the reckless war of choice in Iran. Battled them on ICE funding, and battled them on the unprecedented corruption unleashed on the American people, and we’ve delivered results.”
The meeting was not received well by many Democrats, who attacked Jeffries over it. New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani was not among them, however, even going out of his way to defend and support the Democratic leader.
“I continue to support Congressman Jeffries and his bid to become the leader,” Mamdani said on Monday.
News of the meeting polarized elected Democrats, but was almost unanimously met with outrage by Democratic pundits. Former Obama aide and Pod Save America host Tommy Vietor was among the most outspoken against Jeffries over the meeting.
“Jared Kushner has no actual government job he just uses his family connections to get money from gulf autocrats and fund corrupt deals. The only way @RepJeffries should work with him is with demands for documents and subpoenas,” he posted on X.
“The only meeting Hakeem Jeffries should be having with Jared Kushner is to tell him he’ll be subpoenaed by the House for a corruption investigation on day one of Democratic control of the House. This is just pathetic stuff from the House Dem leader,” controversial progressive pundit Mehdi Hasan said.
JEFFRIES AND KUSHNER MEET IN PRIVATE AS DEMOCRATS EYE HOUSE CONTROL
Elected Democrats were largely more charitable. Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) told NBC News’s Meet the Press that any opening of dialogue was a positive step.
“I’m in favor of people meeting with whoever they want to discuss ideas,” he said. “But it’s one thing to have a meeting. It’s another thing to see something real come out of that.”
