Kellyanne Conway has reserved some of her harshest criticism for Jared Kushner in her forthcoming memoir, mocking the former president Donald Trump’s son-in-law as claiming to be across all subjects in his “ever-bulging portfolio”.
Ms Conway served as a senior adviser to Mr Trump for much of his time in the White House, details of which are set to be included in her book entitled Here’s the Deal, which will be published on Tuesday.
According to early excerpts, she refers to Mr Kushner, Ivanka Trump’s husband and another senior Trump adviser, as a “shrewd and calculating” man and someone characterised by “knowing nods, quizzical looks, and sidebar inquiries”.
The Washington Post, which has published some portions of the book, reported that even though Ms Conway avoids directly criticising her former boss Donald Trump, she wasn’t as generous with Mr Kushner, his son-in-law.
Ms Conway described Mr Kushner as “someone who, as the president’s son-in-law, knew that no matter how disastrous a personnel change or legislative attempt may be, he was unlikely to be held accountable for it”.
“There was no subject he considered beyond his expertise. Criminal justice reform. Middle East peace. The southern and northern borders. Veterans and opioids. Big Tech and small business,” she wrote.
“If Martian attacks had come across the radar, he would have happily added them to his ever-bulging portfolio,” she added.
“He’d have made sure you knew he’d exiled the Martians to Uranus and insisted he did not care who got credit for it. He misread the Constitution in one crucial respect, thinking that all power not given to the federal government was reserved to him.”
The Post reported that in the book, Ms Conway also recounts a scuttled immigration plan rollout in which Mr Kushner suggested the former president “go to Ellis Island, where he’d stand at the foot of the Statue of Liberty to lead a naturalisation ceremony”.
Ms Conway said her tense relationship with Mr Kushner was because he accused her of leaking information to the media, in an attempt to undermine her credibility with the president. Ms Conway denies that charge.
