Mary Trump: I spoke with friend and fellow Nerd Avenger Waj Ali, proprietor of the Substack The Left Hook, about Hakeem Jeffries’ bizarre meeting with Jared Kushner. Now, is there any way to explain this meeting that makes sense, and was it justifiable? It won’t surprise you to learn Waj and I have thoughts. Enjoy.
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Mary Trump: We’re talking about Leader Hakeem Jeffries’ decision to meet with the vile, corrupt criminal Jared Kushner, who, Waj, last I checked, has no formal role and is not a part of the United States government. His entire job, it’s not even a job, he’s been tasked, I guess, with destroying American alliances around the world while continuing to enrich himself by taking in billions of dollars from countries like Saudi Arabia, for example. So I want to talk about why Jeffries thought that was a good idea, and then why he needed to make it worse by justifying it and then trying to change the subject.
First, I want to start with this comment by J.B. Pritzker, whom I actually like, the governor of Illinois. This is what he wrote:
Pritzker: I also met with Leader Jeffries this week. First, are you acquainting yourself with Jared Kushner? Mr. Governor, we both know we have to do all we can to hold every part of the Trump cartel accountable. Jared Kushner clearly requested a meeting so he could leak. He had one, and I don’t think Democrats should be divided by MAGA tricks.
Well, here’s something, Waj. If that’s the case, then why did Jeffries fall for a MAGA trick?
Wajahat Ali: It’s a big club and you ain’t in it. And in this club, there are a few donors and a few powerful, wealthy people who represent destructive industries, and they give money to both sides of the table. Hakeem Jeffries did an old, ossified trick from the playbook that used to work in this town. They call it the town, D.C. I scratch your back, you scratch my back. I help you, you help me. Let’s make a deal. Chuck Schumer used to do that, right? Joe Biden, back in the day, used to do that. Let’s have brandy. Let’s make a deal. We’ll go to the golf club. This is how the town works. So Jared Kushner, as you mentioned, has no official role.
Jared Kushner initially failed his security clearance. The only reason he got a security clearance is because a supervisor said, give him a security clearance. Jared Kushner was said to have been compromised. Also, I’m going to bring this receipt because no one talks about it. Do you recall a couple of months ago, The Wall Street Journal did an article that said Tulsi Gabbard intercepted a national security report that said a person close to the Trump family was potentially compromised? That person was Jared Kushner, right? No one talks about it. And instead of actually having national security do an investigation, Tulsi Gabbard took it to Susie Wiles, and they kept it apparently in this treasure chest and buried it in the Bermuda Triangle.
So here’s Jared Kushner meeting with Hakeem Jeffries. Now, some people have said, Mary, well, Mamdani met with Donald Trump. Mamdani is the mayor of New York. Donald Trump is president. He met with him publicly, and we know, as a result of meeting with him publicly, he got a detained student free. Remember that? ICE lied, went into her dorm, picked her up, and then he fluffed him, and he had those fake New York Post articles, and Donald Trump took a photo. This is a situation where Hakeem Jeffries meets with him in private. There’s one mysterious person that hooks it up. It gets leaked. It gets leaked to Maggie Haberman.
Now, another receipt. Maggie Haberman’s mom was part of a firm that represented the Kushners. So Maggie Haberman has an inside with the Kushner family. My take is that Kushner leaked it to Maggie Haberman that Hakeem Jeffries met with him. That makes Democrats look weak. And even if Jared Kushner was like, “Well, come on now, we know you’re going to get in power. Why are you making deals?” Hakeem Jeffries should have met him and said, “We’re going to get power. Once we do, we’re going to investigate, we’re going to do hearings, we’re going to do subpoenas, and I’m going to make sure you’re in jail.” There’s a lot more to say, but that is what I would’ve done.
And in the past week, in the final receipts I’ll give you, is this what Hakeem Jeffries has done? He’s gone on television to mock Medicare for all. He’s gone on television to mock Democratic Socialists. He has met with Jared Kushner without giving an explicit explanation. He has gone out of his way, even today, to repeat talking points against Hasan Piker, amplifying that story and attacking anyone to the left. And specifically, you heard Abdul say it: “Please tell me, with leaders like these, who needs MAGA?”
Mary Trump: Yeah, Waj, perfectly laid out and explained, as always. A couple of things. Mohammed bin Salman, the man responsible for the murder of Jamal Khashoggi, has said that he’s got Jared Kushner in his back pocket. The only person I can think of who is more corrupt and corrupted than Kushner is his father in law. He comes by it honestly. His father is a despicable human and felon who is now ambassador to France because that’s the way it works in this world.
So Jeffries must have known almost immediately that the backlash was intense. I’m not going to suggest that he would admit he made a mistake, but he needed to do some damage control. So he came out with a very long video, like a three minute long video, explaining why meeting with Kushner was such an awesome thing. Also, Jeffries seems not to understand how optics work. I know it shouldn’t matter, but he looks like he’s not ready for primetime. He’s wearing a green screen green T-shirt and a baseball cap that’s two sizes too big for him. Never wear green screen green. Just ask Donald Trump, who waved a green screen green flag and somebody changed it into an image of a flag with him and Jeffrey Epstein on it. So, rookie mistake.
But his justification for this meeting was bordering on the nonsensical because, in posting it, he wrote, “No one from the Trump cartel is getting a pass.” Well, you just set a meeting. You are the most powerful Democrat in this country. You set a meeting with a man who should have no power, who should have no bargaining chips, who should have no say in anything. I don’t think anybody in the Trump regime should be allowed to speak after the Democrats win in November, if they win. They should be shut out of all discussions about how we fix the messes they’ve made and how we get ourselves out of the horrors they inflicted upon us. Nobody should have a say, certainly not somebody who is as unqualified and unofficial as Jared Kushner.
Is he including Kushner as being a member of the cartel? Clearly, he doesn’t seem to think Kushner is part of the cartel, otherwise he wouldn’t be meeting him. Meeting with him normalizes him. It empowers him. Also, pro tip, live your life so that you never have a mutual friend in common with Jared Kushner. I mean, that’s a trick and a half. I don’t know how that works.
The other thing is that it seems to me that the reason Kushner wanted the meeting, besides putting one over on Jeffries, was to make it. He knows that there’s a very good chance Democrats are going to win. He wants to insert himself in that, and guess what? That’s what Hakeem Jeffries allowed him to do. Hakeem Jeffries essentially said, “Yeah, we’re going to work with you guys. You fascists, you traitors, you anti American, anti constitutional grifters who have helped bankrupt our country, who have destroyed our alliances, all to enrich yourselves. Yes, we are going to give you a seat at the table.” Am I misreading this? Because that’s what I think, and it makes my head explode.
Wajahat Ali: No. Three things. I’ve been saying for several years, and I know Democrats don’t like hearing this, Hakeem Jeffries is not built for this fight or made for this moment. Neither is Chuck Schumer. Now you trust the evidence of your eyes. Just look at the past week, and you tell me this is the best that Democrats can do. If this is the best that Democrats can do for leadership, the Democratic Party should be destroyed, or it should be replaced with someone else, or it should be culled.
The fact that they’re rallying around Hakeem Jeffries is just because of internal politics, folks, New York politics. But I said, I agree with Mamdani and AOC a lot. They rallied for Jeffries because the bat signal went out. I said I disagree with you. The people will be loud, and we have to be loud. And I guarantee you, the louder you are, he’s not going to be Speaker. Neither is Schumer going to be the leader. We have to be loud because he has failed time and time and time and time and time again.
And folks, again, at 10:00 AM today, attack Donald Trump over the fact that, I don’t know, it’s a failed and unwinnable war. JPMorgan said we’re going to have a food shortage in 2027. The fact that his approval rating is at 32. Natalie Harp. The fact that he backed Randy Fine. The fact that he ate dinner with a Nazi, Nick Fuentes. He goes out and again weaponizes Hasan Piker to attack who? Abdul El Sayed, right? He’s doubling down on this.
Now, I know the second thing people might not like hearing this. I’m going to say it. Hakeem Jeffries still takes money from AIPAC, even after AIPAC has taken right wing, pro Trump billionaire money against Democrats. When I asked Hakeem Jeffries this, he goes, “I will continue to take money from who I want to take money from.” He continues to take corporate money. He rails against Medicare for All, which has 90 percent approval rating with the base. He refuses to pivot away from AIPAC, AI, crypto money. He attacks Democratic Socialists instead of giving the answer that Van Hollen did. He says, “Hey, they’re part of the big tent. Let’s go attack Donald Trump.”
He is completely bought out. Who also is completely bought out by Saudi money, Qatari money, UAE money, Israeli money, has real estate deals in the illegal West Bank occupied settlements? Jared Kushner. So they get paid by the same group, folks. I want you to see. At the same time, he does not care. They look at the same polls that Mary and I look at, and they still don’t care.
He’s come out today and said, “Yes, pro Israel donors, I know you want me to attack Hasan Piker, even though no one cares about Hasan Piker. I don’t care if you like him or not. Let me weaponize him and use him as a battering ram against who, Mary?” Abdul El Sayed, right? You are helping the Republicans. If I was them, I would say Hasan Piker says stupid things, but you know who says even worse things? Charlie Kirk, who you made into a prophet. Hasan Piker says some dumb things, but you know who says even crazier things, who’s an elected official? Randy Fine. Another thing I forgot.
Mary Trump: No kidding.
Wajahat Ali: Guess what he did last week? Hakeem Jeffries defended Randy Fine.
Mary Trump: Who was an...
Wajahat Ali: Islamophobe. Did you see that tweet?
Mary Trump: I did not.
Wajahat Ali: Yes. He’s like, “Oh, this is terrible.” Yeah, like Randy Fine, these death threats, blah, blah, blah. So what you’re seeing is a completely compromised corporate Democrat who is perfectly fine playing by the old school rules.
And the final thing I’ll say is something I’ve said, and people have been really upset at me. They’re like, “Waj, don’t wish that evil into the world.” I’ve been saying, Mary, the way this town works, they all fail up. If you’re part of the town, you fail up. Why? I know I might be in a scandal one day. I’ll help you out. When I’m in a scandal, you’ll help me out. They’ll all fail up.
And I said this, I don’t know if I shared this with you, but a week and a half ago, Glenn Kirschner had his annual national justice meeting. Really powerhouse people, Katie Phang and others were there. I moderated a panel, and then afterward I met Ty Cobb, that old Trump White House counsel. It was interesting.
Mary Trump: The mustache.
Wajahat Ali: The mustache. The mustache entered first, then he did. But anyway, he came up to me and said some nice things. He goes, “That was a really good job moderating.” I was talking to Olivia Troye, who said hi to me, and I talked about the fact that I think people need to be prepared. None of these people are going to go to jail. None of these people are going to be held accountable.
And Ty Cobb said, “I think you’re right because some of the polling shows, and this is the polling that Democrats are probably going to rely upon, that people want healing. People want to move forward. People want to do away with the discord and the fissures.” And so Democrats are going to say, “Now is the time to move forward. Let bygones be bygones. The past is past.” And this, Mary, was an example of that.
Mary Trump: Okay. Well, we need to do everything in our power to make sure that doesn’t happen, because if that happens, we’ll be right back here in four years.
Wajahat Ali: That’s exactly it.
Mary Trump: Or worse. If you enjoy this kind of content, please drop us a like and subscribe to the channel, and don’t forget to leave a comment below. Your support really does make a difference. Thanks.
I had high hopes for Hakeem Jeffries. He has been an utter disappointment.
Wajahat Ali: I never did.
Mary Trump: I did because I was trying to be hopeful. I was trying to give the guy the benefit of the doubt. I didn’t know enough about him. And I think sometimes people, when they’re given leadership positions, they step up. He has not. He has been not just a disappointment. He’s been, as you said, he’s undermining Democrats, and it’s kind of mystifying to me.
As last I checked, El Sayed, and it shouldn’t matter, by the way, but he’s not a Democratic Socialist. He’s just a progressive guy. You said it. Who cares about Hasan Piker? Why are Democrats talking about El Sayed in the same breath with Hasan Piker? One guy’s running for Senate. One guy is on TikTok a lot. I mean, seriously, I know more about Hasan Piker now than I did a week ago because I didn’t care. I didn’t listen to him. I don’t follow him. I know very little. The only thing I kind of knew about him, he seemed kind of misogynistic, but I don’t know because I don’t listen to him. He’s irrelevant to me.
Mary Trump: And you said it’s a Streisand effect. Now all this attention is getting focused on Piker, and more and more people are going to make the association between El Sayed and this other scary brown guy. And it’s just like, are you kidding me? Is this the best use of our time and resources? We are fighting fascism, but no.
Wajahat Ali: And Mary, he said it again today. Hakeem Jeffries, four hours ago on Wolf Blitzer, came on and said, “I will continue to speak out against Hasan Piker.” Why?
The reason why he’s doing it is because if you can attack Hasan Piker, it deflects from the failed leadership and scandal of you meeting Jared Kushner. So he’s doubling down, and now you had a vote blue no matter who Democrat, Representative Scholten. You know what she said? Representative Scholten, “I’m not going to support or vote for Abdul El Sayed because of Hasan Piker.” And then you sit there and go, “How much money was spent against Abdul El Sayed? Sixty three million dollars.”
And then you see Chuck Schumer last week. I don’t know if I talked to you about this, Mary. I said, “Watch this space. They’re going to do everything to crush Abdul. They’ll lose Michigan, won’t they? Just to crush anyone who wants Medicare for All.” And Abdul El Sayed, folks, is a capitalist. He’s not a Democratic Socialist. He’s a progressive capitalist who’s been vetted. He was the deputy health commissioner of Wayne County.
Chuck Schumer last week, and this is why Chuck Schumer also, reason number 842 he should not be leader, he literally did a quote in The Washington Post saying, “There are other ways to get the Senate. I mean, it would be nice to win Michigan.”
Mary Trump: Yeah, I saw that. I mean, these people are inexcusable right now. Pretty much all you need to know, you don’t need to know anything about Hasan Piker. Don’t listen to him. I don’t care. Although Hakeem Jeffries is probably making him rich right now, so well done, and amplifying his message.
El Sayed, again, whatever his connection to Hasan Piker is, is irrelevant, quite frankly.
Wajahat Ali: He campaigned with him once. And Hasan Piker campaigned with Summer Lee and Bernie Sanders. And the Democrats, this is very important, Mary, because I’ve been keeping a receipt and I predicted this for anyone who’s watching Left Hook. Hasan Piker did a campaign stop with Summer Lee, with Bernie Sanders, even AOC. Democrats didn’t say anything.
Mallory McMorrow, when she was in the race, waited for the one time that Abdul El Sayed, a brown Muslim guy, was to do a campaign stop with Hasan Piker, a brown Muslim guy, and then Mallory McMorrow’s campaign pounced on it. Streisand effect. Made it into a thing. Mallory McMorrow then equated Abdul El Sayed and Hasan Piker with a terrorist attack on a synagogue. You guys see this? It’s very unsubtle.
Then it was the Democrats. We have to keep receipts. It’s the Democrats who made Hasan Piker into a thing to punch to their left, as you mentioned, Streisand effect. Now he’s blown up. Then the right wing ran with Hasan Piker after the Democrats made him into a thing, and now they’re doubling down and weaponizing Hasan Piker against who? Abdul El Sayed and anyone to the left. And now Hakeem Jeffries is doing it to protect himself.
Mary Trump: Himself and change the subject.
Wajahat Ali: Of meeting with Kushner.
Mary Trump: Because all these powerful men are incapable of admitting their mistakes. I mean, talk about taking a page out of Donald’s playbook. And I don’t want to talk about that. I don’t want to talk about TikTok anymore. I don’t care. El Sayed is not a fascist. His opponent is. It’s that simple.
And look, I don’t believe in vote blue no matter who. I really don’t. However, all hands on deck here, and there is no Democrat running for office in 2026 who is within light years of the hideousness of the Republican they’re running against. So please, let’s focus. And with so called leaders like Jeffries and Schumer, we are in big, big trouble. That’s why, when we win, we need to make sure that we win with the best candidates, the most independent candidates, the kind of candidates who can meet the moment. So hopefully, in January 2027, they do not give the gavel to Hakeem Jeffries. That’s sort of what I’m hoping.
Wajahat Ali: I’m not making this up. Just earlier today, Democrat Hillary Scholten will not support Abdul El Sayed. So when they say vote blue no matter who, Mary, they’re revealing themselves. You told us for ten years, vote blue no matter who. Oh, anyone to the...
Mary Trump: Well, not that guy. Yeah, exactly.
Wajahat Ali: Exactly. Anyone who’s to the left of Hakeem Jeffries and Schumer, which is the majority of Democrats, you’re willing to crush them. What type of leadership is this? And now you’re telling me. I just gave you the receipts of the past week. You defended Randy Fine, you attacked Medicare for All, you attacked Democratic Socialists instead of pivoting and attacking, I don’t know, all the freaks in MAGA. You met with Kushner, and now you’re doubling down and attacking Abdul El Sayed essentially through proxy with Hasan Piker. And now you think you’re going to be the leader.
I don’t do this game. I disagreed with AOC and Mamdani yesterday. They circled the wagons because they had to. It’s internal New York and D.C. politics. Nope. You’re telling me Hakeem Jeffries is going to be the leader. I’m telling you that the Democratic Party is going to die, and I’m telling you that even if the Democrats win in four years, you’re going to get your first America First Nazi president. And I’m willing to have Democrats be upset at me. I’m looking at the long term, Mary.
Mary Trump: Yeah, absolutely.
Wajahat Ali: If a Gavin Newsom, Hakeem Jeffries, Schumer wins, it’s going to be the end of the Democratic Party. I don’t care about that. What I care about is it’s going to hurt American people. If you get paid by AIPAC, crypto, and AI, how are you going to hold these people responsible? You’re not.
And then what we’re going to get is crumbs, or they’ll give us a terrible deal. Then they’ll tell us, “Hey, Republicans give you nothing. At least we give you something. Be happy.” And then they expect us for the rest of our lives to say, “You’re right. You’re right. It’s either this or nothing. You’re right. We’re so grateful. At least you’re not a Nazi.” And then what’s going to happen? Everything’s going to get worse. In 2032, you’re going to get a MAGA candidate who’s going to lie about economic populism. He’s going to win.
Mary Trump: And by the way, they are going to continue to make common cause with the fascists. Yes. That is what they are making very clear instead of holding them accountable, and that will not end well. So we need to do everything in our power to make sure that doesn’t happen.
I am not going to say that that’s a foregone conclusion at all, because I think Democrats like Jeffries are making the case against themselves better than we possibly could.
Everybody, I’m being a bad capitalist on your behalf. I’m supposed to be a good capitalist on your behalf. Everybody must go subscribe right now to Waj’s The Left Hook. Get a paid subscription if you can, but nothing’s paywalled because, again, bad capitalist. Waj, anything else people need to be watching out for? Also, read his fabulous book, Go Back to Where You Came From.
Wajahat Ali: Thank you, Mary
Mary Trump: Anyway, everybody, thank you so much for being here with me and Waj. So sad about Dolly Parton, but again, go follow Waj everywhere. Go watch all of his stuff, and we will see you soon. Bye, everybody. The conversation continues in the comments, so let us know what you think.
