Jared Kushner (R) and Donald Trump (L) Image by Getty

By Benjamin Gladstone July 10, 2019

Jared Kushner responded to the “Access Hollywood” tape on which his father-in-law, Donald Trump, claimed to have sexually assaulted women, “You know, I don’t think it’s all that bad,” according to an upcoming book.

Politico released an excerpt from correspondent Tim Albert’s soon to be released book, “American Carnage: On the Front Lines of the Republican Civil War and the Rise of President Donald Trump,” on Wednesday. The excerpt detailed conversations between members of Donald Trump’s campaign team in 2016 after they learned that the Washington Post had obtained the tape. On the tape was a recording of a 2005 conversation between Trump and Billy Bush during which Trump described his own habit of kissing women without consent and implied that he had non-consensually groped women’s genitals.

Although the excerpt did not make clear whether Kushner’s statement was referring to the assault or to the potential impact of a Washington Post exposé on the Trump presidential campaign, the now-White House Senior Advisor’s comment suggested indifference toward Trump’s victims.

Trump has a long history of sexual assault, according to the testimonies of his victims. At least 17 women have publicly accused him of assault or rape. Most recently, E. Jean Carroll, the famous gossip columnist, said that Trump raped her in the fitting room at the upscale clothing store Bergdorf Goodman, in Manhattan.

Benjamin Gladstone is an intern at the Forward. Contact him by email at [email protected] or on Twitter @bensgladstone

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