Jared Kushner Is Reportedly Hitting Up Wealthy Donors on Trump’s Behalf

After Donald Trump incited a bloody insurrection in an attempt to stay in power, Jared Kushner let it be known that he totally had not supported such efforts,* that he knew Trump had lost, and that he and Ivanka were “washing their hands of the Trump presidency” before it had even been officially called for Joe Biden. But apparently the former first son-in-law has not washed his hands of a potential second Trump presidency, and in fact has been working behind the scenes to help get his father-in-law reelected.

Reuters reports that Kushner “has been making calls to encourage donors to attend a Trump fundraiser in New York,” according to two people familiar with the matter. “He has called a few people,” one source told the outlet, while another said Kushner had invited them to the May 14 fundraiser and asked for names of additional potential donors. “Jared supports his father-in-law and is happy to connect the many people who get in touch with him looking to help the campaign,” a Kushner spokesperson told Reuters.

According to the outlet, Kushner’s parents, Charles and Seryl Kushner, are among the cohosts of the event. Reuters reports that last year, Charles Kushner donated $1 million to a Trump-aligned super PAC, and you can probably guess why. (If you’re struggling, it may have something to do with Trump pardoning him—a convicted felon who was sentenced to two years in prison after pleading guilty to 18 counts of tax evasion, unlawful campaign donations, and witness tampering that involved setting up his brother-in-law with a sex worker, filming the encounter, and sending the footage to the man’s wife, Kushner’s sister.)

News of Kushner’s involvement comes days after Puck reported that Ivanka Trump had gotten the “urge” to rejoin her father on the campaign trail and potentially in a second term. The outlet noted that Kushner had been “a lot more focused on his investment business and being a lot more measured about discussing a return.” (The former first son-in-law raised billions from foreign investors after leaving the White House, including a cool $2 billion from his pals in Saudi Arabia.) A spokesperson for the couple told Puck, “As they’ve both repeatedly stated, Ivanka and Jared continue to focus on their family and lives in the private sector and do not intend to go back to politics.”

*In fact, according to Rolling Stone, Kushner “took charge in overseeing the development of plans to keep Trump in office” and “repeatedly” met with the then president and other top advisers to game out potential strategies for “multi-pronged legal battles and a scorched-earth messaging war against the victorious Biden campaign.” He also reportedly urged Trump to ignore the people saying it was over.

Trump says if you don’t vote for him the country will fall into a depression