John Oliver Explains Why Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner Aren’t Going to Save the White House

“If they are the reason you are sleeping at night, you should probably still be awake.”


On the latest Last Week Tonight, John Oliver challenged the popular belief that President Donald Trump’s closest advisers, his daughter Ivanka Trump and son-in-law Jared Kushner, are moderating forces in the White House. According to Oliver, Americans should be concerned, because despite the incredible level of power the couple wields within the administration, the two have little to no actual political experience.

He began by specifically calling out Ivanka’s history of publicly supporting progressive issues, such as paid maternity leave and climate change, while standing by her father, as his administration sets out to defund Planned Parenthood and limit the role of science and evidence-based policies in government.

“The assumption that many of us have that she disagrees with him isn’t actually based on much,” Oliver said.

Oliver then questioned what qualifications Kushner may or may not have to merit his increasingly stacked White House duties, which range from reforming veteran care to brokering peace in the Middle East.

“If they are the reason you are sleeping at night, you should probably still be awake.”

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In "It's Not a Crisis. This Is the New Normal," we explain, as matter-of-factly as we can, what exactly our finances look like, how brutal it is to sustain quality journalism right now, what makes Mother Jones different than most of the news out there, and why support from readers is the only thing that keeps us going. Despite the challenges, we're optimistic we can increase the share of online readers who decide to donate—starting with hitting an ambitious $300,000 goal in just three weeks to make sure we can finish our fiscal year break-even in the coming months.

Please learn more about how Mother Jones works and our 47-year history of doing nonprofit journalism that you don't elsewhere—and help us do it with a donation if you can. We've already cut expenses and hitting our online goal is critical right now.

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