Byron Donalds: Kushner ‘just keepings lines of communication open’ with Jeffries meeting

Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.) on Monday said President Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner met with House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) in recent weeks to create an opportunity for future discussions.

“I think knowing Jared Kushner, I think he’s used to keeping lines of communication open. These are some of the things that he does repeatedly, even during his time as a top official in the Trump 45 White House,” Donalds, the Republican nominee for Florida’s governorship, said during an appearance on CNN’s “Situation Room.”

“Jared is probably just continuing conversations he had with Hakeem Jeffries,” he added.

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) also chalked up the meeting first reported by The New York Times as a one-off.

Johnson said Kushner is “not really directly involved in the admin, at least in the day-to-day in the White House.”

Kushner operates his own private equity firm, Affinity Partners, and acts as an informal outside adviser to Trump on foreign policy and Middle East initiatives.

When Jeffries was asked to comment on his meeting with Kushner, he cited Democrats’ push for affordability, noting “that an extremist approach will not work and will be met with forceful opposition.”

“In every conversation that we have with the Trump administration, we will continue to make it explicitly clear that the affordability crisis is not a hoax and nothing short of transformational policy change is acceptable. We are fighting for an affordable America,” Jeffries added in the statement.

Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill.) said the meeting was likely meant to mend relations in case Democrats gain the House majority in November.

“I think it signals that they know he’s going to be the Speaker. And they know that he’s going to be somebody that they can’t, you know, kind of continue to roll over,” Krishnamoorthi said during a Monday appearance on CNN’s “News Central.”

“They’re going to have to accord respect. And if they want any item on their legislative agenda to move forward, they’re going to have to work with him,” he added.