Jared Kushner Blasted for Defending Donald Trump — by Own Family
Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner Image by Getty Images
Some of Jared Kushner’s relatives are distancing themselves from his support of father-in-law Donald Trump in a flap over a Tweet many find anti-Semitic — and blasting the newspaper publisher for invoking their Holocaust survivor grandparents.
The relatives called it “self-serving” and “disgusting” for Jared Kushner to use their family history as a way of backing Trump against charges of anti-Semitism.
Different take-away from our Grandparents’ experience. We must speak out against hate. Anti-semitism or otherwise. https://t.co/zOuDSXNsa5
— marc kushner (@marchitizer) July 6, 2016
“I have a different takeaway from my grandparents’ experience,” Marc Kushner, Jared’s first cousin, wrote on Facebook, according to Politico. “It is our responsibility as the next generation to speak up against hate. Anti-Semitism or otherwise.”
The family feud erupted after Trump posted a tweet of Hillary Clinton, alongside a six-sided star and a pile of dollar bills. Many Jews and others objected to the post as anti-Semitic.
But Kushner pushed back by saying that Trump is “and incredibly loving and tolerant person who has embraced my family and our Judaism.”
On July 7, he released a statement in the Observer, a paper that he owns, in response to journalist Dana Schwartz’s open letter denouncing what she called Trump’s anti-Semitism.
“I am the grandson of Holocaust survivors…” Kushner wrote. “I go into these details, which I have never discussed, because it’s important to me that people understand where I’m coming from when I report that I know the difference between actual, dangerous intolerance versus these labels that get tossed around in an effort to score political points.”
Some of Kushner’s relatives don’t buy it.
Jacob Schulder, another cousin, also reportedly said that he does not appreciate Jared Kusher’s invoking their grandparents to justify Trump’s behavior or help advance his presidential campaign.
“For the sake of the family name, which may have no meaning to you but still has meaning to others, please don’t invoke our grandparents in vain just so you can sleep better at night. It is self serving and disgusting,” he wrote.
Contact Veronika Bondarenko at bondarenko@forward.com or on Twitter, @veronikabond.
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