Jared Kushner apparently got coronavirus advice from a Facebook group
When White House Senior Adviser (and presidential son-in-law) Jared Kushner needed resources to help fight the frightening coronavirus outbreak, he reportedly turned to the same place your kooky aunt might: Facebook.
Politico reported on Friday that Kurt Kloss — father-in-law to Kushner's brother — asked for coronavirus advice in a group for emergency room doctors so he could pass it along to the White House adviser.
“If you were in charge of Federal response to the Pandemic what would your recommendation be. Please only serious responses,” he wrote, according to Politico. “I have direct channel to person now in charge at White House.”
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The Spectator first reported that these posts existed on Thursday.
Hundreds of people responded, and Kloss reportedly ultimately explained that Kushner had asked for advice. The FB group Kloss consulted — called EM Docs — has almost 22,000 members and reportedly requires folks to provide credentials to join.
The posts from Kloss came as Kushner reportedly took on a more active role in combatting the coronavirus crisis, and as the nation began taking drastic steps to increase social distancing. The Washington Post reported this week that the presidential son-in-law had "seized control over some aspects of the government’s coronavirus response." Trump's largely disastrous Wednesday night speech, for instance, was reportedly written by Kushner and Stephen Miller.
The Em Docs posts related to Kushner were ultimately deleted from the group, Politico reported. A later message from Kloss reportedly indicated the White House senior adviser was reading the advice from the group.
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Politico reported earlier in the week that Trump was holding off on making a wider emergency declaration — which would make available funds and resources to states — until Kushner could talk to "relevant parties and presents his findings" to the president.
Apparently that research involved hitting up Facebook.
Topics Health Donald Trump Politics COVID-19
Tim Marcin is an Associate Editor on the culture team at Mashable, where he mostly digs into the weird parts of the internet. You'll also see some coverage of memes, tech, sports, trends, and the occasional hot take. You can find him on Bluesky (sometimes), Instagram (infrequently), or eating Buffalo wings (as often as possible).
