White House senior adviser Jared Kushner said Thursday that Kanye West is a longtime friend, and he sat down with him to discuss policy amid questions about the rapper’s sudden leap into the 2020 presidential race.
This month’s meeting, first reported by The New York Times, raised suspicion because Mr. West is seeking to get on the presidential ballot in a number of states. Some view it as a sneaky way for the Trump campaign to peel Black voters away from former Vice President Joseph R. Biden.
Mr. Kusher said he’s known Mr. West for 10 years, and they both happened to be in Colorado.
“We got together, and we had a great discussion about a lot of things. He has some great ideas for what he’d like to see happen in the country and that’s why he has the candidacy that he’s been doing,” Mr. Kusher, the president’s son-in-law, said at a White House press briefing.
He said Mr. West is a champion for some of President Trump’s ideas, too.
“We had a general discussion more about policy,” Mr. Kushner said.
Mr. West’s wife, Kim Kardashian West, assisted Mr. Trump on criminal justice reform earlier in the president’s term.
She recently asked for compassion as the public evaluates Mr. West’s behavior, citing his bipolar diagnosis.
• Tom Howell Jr. can be reached at thowell@washingtontimes.com.
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