Hi everyone, I know only these essays usually only go out to paid subscribers, but given the growing anger over this meeting I figured out this was worth an exception. And if you do want these essays in your inbox every time I make one, make sure to get a paid subscription (I lowered the price btw).
Anyway…
If you haven’t heard, Maggie Haberman wrote an article about a meeting Hakeem Jeffries and Jared Kushner had and everyone is freaking out.
I am flummoxed because “DO SOMETHING” means getting something done, and we can only get anything done in the House if Jeffries meets with anyone who is willing to meet with him (though I have no idea who set up the meeting.)
It’s as if Dems said: “We want you to vote for us in November, but we’re just gonna sit on our hands if we get the majority. We know you care about cost of living, but we aren’t willing to talk to Republicans so we might be able to get it passed in the House but that’s just for show cause Trump will just veto it and we’re doing nothing to make that less likely.”
Is that what you want?
So, all that to say, I have a significantly different take than most other people talking about this story.
And once you’ve read this post, maybe you will too.
Here’s my main takeaways from what we know about the meeting:
We cannot take it for granted, AT ALL, but Trump is even under the impression that we win back control of the House.
Trump did not send JD Vance who is SUPPOSED to be his most trusted advisor, he sent is ACTUAL most trusted advisor, so he’s legitimately looking to compromise.
AND, as is also in the article. Kushner is making a meeting happen between Chief of Staff Susie Wiles and Jeffries, which again means this is the real deal, not just for the cameras.
Jeffries is already hitting the ground running. Being Speaker is all about negotiation and this is Kushner meeting with the Speaker of the House, not the Minority leader, meaning Jeffries is on offense.
We have SPECIFICS for what was discussed: housing, ICE and cost of living. Because Kushner is more involved in foreign policy, this is probably mostly about the Iran war, which is certainly making two of those worse.
I don’t particularly want him to make a deal but I’m glad he listened to it.
And finally, and I can’t overstate this enough, Maggie Haberman is not a writer to be trusted. This is not the first time her name has come up in an article that was intended to divide Democrats.
Bottom line, AS LONG AS WE DON’T LET THIS DIVIDE US, and focus on November, we WILL win back the House.
Now let’s let Jeffries do his job (cause this is his job) and focus on getting Dems elected up and down the ballot in every single office we can.
I’ve written several posts on this meeting today, but I think this is the most clear, calm, and concise one, so I hope if you got something out of it you will share it around!
We also have to make sure to win back the Senate too this year and beyond!!!