Jared Kushner defends Trump from racism charge

President-elect Donald Trump’s Jewish son-in-law defends him from allegations of bigotry and anti-Semitism in a new interview with Forbes magazine.

In the interview, his first since Trump stunned the US two weeks ago by defeating Democratic rival Hillary Clinton, the usually press-shy Jared Kushner says his father-in-law “won’t tolerate hateful rhetoric or behavior.”

The publication of his comments comes a day after video surfaced of white supremacist mentor Richard Spencer evoking laudatory Nazi-infused language about the incoming president at a conference this weekend while the audience chanted “Heil Trump!” and extended Nazi salutes.

Kushner says that despite the support Trump has received from the likes of the KKK and racist alt-right movement, he knows his father-in-law to be someone who does not share their values, emphasizing that their relationship for longer than a decade gave him insight into the man that others lack.

“If I know somebody and everyone else says that this person’s a terrible person,” he says, “I’m not going to start thinking that this person’s a terrible person or disassociating myself, when my empirical data and experience is a lot more informed than many of the people casting these judgments. What would that say about me if I changed my view based on what other people think, as opposed to the facts that I actually know for myself?

“I just know a lot of the things that people try to attack him with are just not true or overblown or exaggerations,” he adds. “I know his character. I know who he is, and I obviously would not have supported him if I thought otherwise. If the country gives him a chance, they’ll find he won’t tolerate hateful rhetoric or behavior.”

— Eric Cortellessa