Kushner: Trump Doesn’t Believe the Conspiracy Theories He Spreads

Donald Trump. Image by Getty Images

By Daniel J. Solomon January 9, 2017

President-elect Donald Trump repeated conspiracy theories pulled from Breitbart News and Alex Jones’ InfoWars throughout his campaign for the White House. But son-in-law — and soon-to-be “special adviser” to the president — Jared Kushner told his friends not to worry about it.

“People say Trump a friend, according to a profile on Kushner in New York Magazine. “I think he unhinged everyone else.” According to the same report, Kushner has told the business community not to take his father-in-law’s words too seriously, pledging that the new administration would eventually pursue a “rational” policy on immigration and that Trump’s presence in the boardroom was far different from his unconventional persona on the stump.

Trump’s entrée into the world of rightwing politics came during the so-called “birther” controversy, when he led the way in pushing the racist lie that President Barack Obama was born in Kenya, and hounded his predecessor for a copy of his birth certificate from Hawaii. On the campaign trail, he falsely told crowds that Muslims cheered after the World Trade Center attacks and insinuated that rival Hillary Clinton was part of a global banking conspiracy.

Contact Daniel J. Solomon at [email protected] or on Twitter @DanielJSolomon

Daniel J. Solomon is the former Assistant to the Editor/News Writer at the Forward. Originally from Queens, he attended Harvard as an undergraduate, where he wrote his senior thesis on French-Jewish intellectual history. He is excited to have returned to New York after his time in Massachusetts. Daniel’s passions include folk music, cycling, and pointed argument.

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse..

Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.

— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO