Jared Kushner’s family, the in-laws of former President Trump’s oldest daughter Ivanka Trump, are reportedly “cozying up” to former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley ahead of the 2024 Republican presidential primary race.
A report by Vanity Fair‘s Gabriel Sherman reveals that Jared Kushner’s parents, Charles and Seryl Kushner, hosted a private luncheon days ago at their Jersey Shore beach house so a close group of friends could meet Haley.
“According to two sources briefed on the event, Jared Kushner’s parents invited about 20 friends to meet former U.N. ambassador Nikki Haley at the Kushners’ beach house on the Jersey Shore,” Sherman reported:
The Kushners’ chef prepared a meal of salad and salmon. At the event, Jared’s father Charles Kushner predicted that Haley would be “the first woman president,” one of the sources said. Some attendees made donations to Haley’s Stand for America PAC. (Charles Kushner did not respond to requests for comment). [Emphasis added]
Haley has made no secret of her 2024 ambitions. During a speech in New Jersey on Sunday night, Haley said she has “a big decision to make at the beginning of ‘23.” (A spokesperson for Haley did not respond to a request for comment). [Emphasis added]
If she runs, as many suspect, it will force Jared and Ivanka to choose between Trump family loyalty and one of their closest political allies (When she left the administration, Haley infamously described Jared as “a hidden genius”). Jared and Ivanka were in Aspen over the weekend and didn’t attend Charles Kushner’s lunch, a person close to Jared said. But last month, the couple was spotted visiting Haley and her husband, Michael Haley, at the Kiawah Island beach club in South Carolina. “They think very highly of Nikki. They get along great,” the person said. [Emphasis added]
While in the Trump administration, Haley was considered a close ally of Jared Kushner, whom she famously called “a hidden genius.”
“I can’t say enough good things about Jared and Ivanka,” Haley said in October 2018. “Jared is such a hidden genius that no one understands.”
In April, reports circulated that Haley is considering Miami, Florida, Mayor Francis Suarez as her running mate for a 2024 Republican presidential primary bid. Suarez voted for Democrat Andrew Gillum against Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) in 2018, attacked DeSantis last year for throwing out mask mandates, and in 2018 joined Mayors Bill de Blasio of New York City and Eric Garcetti of Los Angeles to blast Trump’s “America First” immigration agenda.
Haley has consistently polled low among conservative voters.
The most recent straw poll from CPAC Dallas of the 2024 Republican presidential primary revealed that one percent of attendees said Haley ought to be the GOP nominee if Trump does not run again. This is the same amount of attendees who said Ivanka Trump, Mike Pence, and Marco Rubio should be the nominee.
Nearly 7-in-10 attendees said DeSantis should be the GOP nominee in 2024.
Likewise, at CPAC in February, just three percent of attendees — when Trump was excluded from the poll — said Haley should be the GOP nominee. About 43 percent of attendees said DeSantis should be the nominee.
John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart News. Email him at jbinder@breitbart.com. Follow him on Twitter here.
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