Jeffries responds to Kushner meeting backlash: 'No one from the Trump Cartel is getting a pass'
The Hill · C · trust 56/100
Comments: by Claire Leibowitz - 08/24/26 9:48 PM ET Comments: Link copied by Claire Leibowitz - 08/24/26 9:48 PM ET Comments: Link copied NOW PLAYING House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) on Monday said that “no one from the Trump Cartel is getting a pass,” in a post on the social media platform X. The video comes after he faced backlash for meeting with Jared Kushner, President Trump’s son-in-law.
The New York Times reported on Sunday that the two met privately ahead of November’s midterms to discuss common ground on issues like housing, immigration and high cost of living.
Jeffries said that Kushner reached out to him first, and he accepted so the pair could discuss affordability. His post emphasized, however, that House Democrats have pushed the Trump administration on issues including tariffs, the Affordable Care Act, nutritional assistance and more.
“I shouldn’t have to say it, but I am. No one is going to get a pass,” he said. “We’re gonna follow the facts, apply the law, and be guided by the Constitution beginning on day one. And hold the crooks accountable.”
Reactions to the meeting have been mixed. Co-host of “Pod Save America” and former Obama aide Tommy Vietor took to X on Sunday to criticize Kushner.
“Jared Kushner has no actual government job he just uses his family connections to get money from gulf autocrats and fund corrupt deals,” he said.
Kushner has served as a foreign envoy for Trump, working on conflicts in Ukraine, Gaza and Iran.
Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) downplayed the meeting to Fox News’s Peter Doocy on “The Sunday Briefing.”
“I don’t know what that’s about. I know Jared has interest in lots of other things going on,” he said. “He’s not really directly involved in the admin, at least in the day-to-day in the White House.”
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani (D) backed Jeffries at a Monday press conference when asked if he’d support the representative as House Majority Leader if Democrats take back the House in November. “I continue to support Congressman Jeffries and his bid to become the leader,” Mamdani said.
Jeffries said that House Democrats have “delivered results” in battling corruption. “[Former Attorney General] Pam Bondi is gone. [Former Secretary of Homeland Security] Kristi Noem is gone, and we’re just getting started,” he said.
He concluded the video by discussing affordability.
“People are drowning in this failed economy and are demanding action. We have a responsibility to deal with the fact that life is too expensive,” he said. “And that’s what we intend to do.”
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