President Donald Trump is desperately deploying his secret weapon to protect himself from his worst political nightmare, analyst David Rothkopf warns.
Appearing on The Daily Beast Podcast, Rothkopf declared that Trump, 80, is using his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, to try to curry favor with Democrats in a frantic attempt to prevent his third impeachment.
Kushner—a billionaire private citizen whom the president sends to conduct critical diplomatic negotiations, including with Russia and Iran—met privately with top House Democrat Hakeem Jeffries to discuss policy issues, according to a Sunday report from The New York Times.
The clandestine meeting unfolded as Republicans brace for a brutal midterm election that will likely see the House, and possibly the Senate, turn blue amid Trump’s plummeting approval ratings.
“I think it was a bad look on both sides because, you know, on the part of Kushner, of course, reaching out to Jeffries, the message was, ‘We think you’re gonna be in charge. The Democrats are gonna win. Let’s establish a back channel,’” Rothkopf said.
“And Kushner is the master. See, he’s kind of the secretary of back channels in this and in the prior administration,” he continued. “And this made Mike Johnson, the current speaker of the House, pissed off. So it was a bad look in that regard.”
Rothkopf explained that it was also a bad look for Jeffries, an establishment Democrat who would meet with a top Trump lackey but refuses to acknowledge rising progressives within his own party, such as New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani or Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed.
“So he looks like a guy who’s on the attack against members of his own party, but willing to compromise with the fascist in the White House,” the political expert said of Jeffries.
But Kushner’s meeting with Democrats signals that Trump is afraid of losing, Rothkopf argued.
“Of course, Trump has been going around... saying if the Democrats get elected, they will impeach me,” he said. “And I think part of what he’s trying to do here is, he says to Jared, ‘Go reach out to them.’”
“He really doesn’t want to be impeached again. There are a lot of Democrats who are like, what’s the point? But I think Trump sees the point,” the political guru elaborated. “He knows how devastating that would be to his administration, to his reputation.”
“And there’s no assurances that the next impeachment turns out the way the last did, where the Senate defends him. Because everybody saw what happened then, you know,” he added, noting that the Jan. 6 Capitol riot followed Trump’s first impeachment and led to his second.
“I think Trump’s terrified,” Rothkopf concluded. “I think, you know, just as he sends Jared to deal with the Iranians and Jared to deal with the Russians, when he’s got some big issue, he sends Jared.”
The Daily Beast has reached out to the White House for comment.
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