No worries, America. Team Trump will determine what “we want to believe” and “what we think is critical” regarding the murder of dissident Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
“We’re getting facts in from multiple places and once those facts come in, the secretary of state will work with our national security team to help us determine what we want to believe, and what we think is credible and what we think is not credible,” Jared Kushner told Van Jones on CNN Monday.
Kushner, who is Trump’s son-in-law, is close with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, but claimed that team Trump have their eyes “wide open” even as Saudi Arabia changes its story on what happened to Khashoggi. Kushner stressed that the Saudis are an important ally.
U.S. officials told the Washington Post Trump privately expressed concern about Kushner’s close relationship with the crown prince.
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Kushner also dodged a question about if he thought the Saudis had been deceptive, saying he sees deceptive things every day.
That’s probably true, since Donald Trump has said 2915 false things as U.S. president, according to Daniel Dale, who is keeping track. But that doesn’t mean that being deceptive is the norm or is okay. Trump’s son-in-law is basically saying that since Trump is a liar, it’s okay that the Saudis lied. It is no wonder that Trump and the Saudis have a business relationship.
How about we don’t elevate grotesque liars at all, and we demand allies account for upholding the most basic human rights and freedoms of a democracy. That is supposed to be what makes them allies; a common goal of upholding human rights. Even Fox News admits this.
Normally this might seem like taking something out of context, but this is Team Trump talking about determining what is factual about something that impacts their own pocketbooks after they’ve done all they could to deny the murder in the first place. They have specialized in selective picking of “facts” their entire time in office. These are the same people who blatantly lie every day about anything they think will motivate their base while covering their tracks.
As senior White House adviser, Kushner should know that words matter. The bar shouldn’t be lowered for everyone in the Trump administration, just because they fumble daily.
Team Trump will determine what they want to believe. Hey, at least they’re being up front about it now.
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