“And while the stock market largely affects the investment portfolios of the rich (the wealthiest 10 percent of Americans own more than 80 percent of stocks),” he added, “the fallout has the rest of the country reeling, with a historic 36 million people filing unemployment claims.”
‘150,000 Americans Sacrificed for the Stock Market’: Kushner Reportedly Advised Less Covid-19 Testing to Calm Wall Street
“Kushner’s advice did nothing to prevent a market crash, and it’s likely that the administration’s refusal to act in time only threw the economy into more chaos.”
by Eoin Higgins, staff writer
Senior Advisor to President Donald Trump Jared Kushner speaks at a meeting in the State Dining Room of the White House in Washington, DC, on May 8, 2020. (Photo: Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images)
President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and special advisor Jared Kushner reportedly urged his father-in-law in the early stages of the coronavirus pandemic not to prioritize testing or ordering potentially life-saving equipment like ventilators because of fears it might drive down stock prices.
Kushner’s efforts to convince the president not to take decisive action were first reported in the Financial Times:
“Jared [Kushner] had been arguing that testing too many people, or ordering too many ventilators, would spook the markets and so we just shouldn’t do it,” says a Trump confidant who speaks to the president frequently. “That advice worked far more powerfully on him than what the scientists were saying. He thinks they
always exaggerate.”
“And there you have it,” tweeted strategist Mark Elliott. “150,000 Americans sacrificed for the stock market.”
GQ‘s Luke Darby pointed out Thursday that the advised ploy didn’t even work.
“Kushner’s advice did nothing to prevent a market crash,” wrote Darby, “and it’s likely that the administration’s refusal to act in time only threw the economy into more chaos.”
“And while the stock market largely affects the investment portfolios of the rich (the wealthiest 10 percent of Americans own more than 80 percent of stocks),” he added, “the fallout has the rest of the country reeling, with a historic 36 million people filing unemployment claims.”