With confirmed cases of coronavirus reaching 1 million in the United States (though the actual number could be as much as 20 times higher) and deaths related to COVID-19 topping 61,000, it might not be the right time for public officials to declare the pandemic response a “great success story.” But that’s exactly how Jared Kushner described the White House’s actions in an interview with Fox News on Wednesday morning.
“We’re on the other side of the medical aspect of this, and I think that we’ve achieved all of the different milestones that are needed. So the federal government rose to the challenge and this is a great success story,” President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and senior advisor said. “And I think that that’s what really needs to be told.”
Speaking in a monotone to imitate Kushner, The Late Show host Stephen Colbert replied, “Yes, it’s a great story. More people dying under this administration in 100 days than died in 20 years of the Vietnam War. That’s a story that needs to be told. Perhaps in the blockbuster movie Preventable Apocalypse Now.”
But it was Jimmy Kimmel who really tore into Kushner. The Jimmy Kimmel Live host pointed out that while discussing President Trump’s recent executive order to keep meat processing plants open—in order to avoid massive disruptions to the supply chain—Kushner said, “Americans will have all the food supply they need.” The detached use of “they” rather than “we” recalled when Kushner claimed during a press briefing last month that the federal stockpile was “our stockpile”, rather than resources for the states.
“If we are ‘they,’ what are you? It?” Kimmel asked. “I think we may have just happened upon proof that Jared is a robot.”
During his interview on Wednesday, Kushner also took a shot at who he called “the eternal lockdown crowd” who “make jokes on late-night television” while he discussed plans to re-open the economy. The remark and its implications delighted Kimmel. “I love the idea that he’s watching late-night television to see if we make jokes about him,” Kimmel said, before unleashing a barrage of one-liners about Kushner’s appearance and demeanor.