Kushner draws fierce criticism after saying he's 'not sure' he can commit to date for 2020 U.S. elec

[Judi Lynn]

Source: New York Times


ANNIE KARNI AND MAGGIE HABERMAN
WASHINGTON
THE NEW YORK TIMES
PUBLISHED 1 HOUR AGO

Jared Kushner, the president’s son-in-law and a senior White House adviser, refused Tuesday to rule out postponing the presidential election in November, a comment that fed directly into Democratic concerns that President Donald Trump might use the coronavirus crisis to delay or delegitimize the contest and one that contradicted Trump himself.

“I’m not sure I can commit one way or the other, but right now that’s the plan,” Kushner told Time magazine in response to a question about whether the election could be postponed because of the pandemic.

The opinion of a White House staff member has no bearing on when the election is held. Even the president himself does not have the authority to unilaterally postpone Election Day, which by law takes place the Tuesday after the first Monday in November.

But Kushner’s comment raised alarms both because of the expansive power Trump has conferred on members of his family who serve in his administration and because it played into the worst anxieties of Trump’s detractors – that the president would begin to question the validity of the election if he feared he was going to lose.

Read more: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/world/us-politics/article-kushner-draws-fierce-criticism-after-saying-hes-not-sure-he-can/