'Please only serious responses': Jared Kushner reportedly looked to a Facebook group to crowdsource ideas to stop coronavirus
- A doctor reportedly posted in a Facebook group for physicians, asking for ideas on how to stop coronavirus and adding, "I have direct channel to person now in charge at White House."
- The post was made by Kurt Kloss on behalf of his son-in-law's brother, Jared Kushner, according to POLITICO.
- President Donald Trump has assigned Kushner a leading role in developing the White House's response to the COVID-19 outbreak.
- After gathering responses in the Facebook group, Kloss reportedly posted that "Jared is reading now."
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As the White House clambers to take action to combat the spread of COVID-19, President Donald Trump's son-in-law and senior aide Jared Kushner is reportedly turning to a nontraditional resource: advice crowdsourced from Facebook.
POLITICO reports that Kurt Kloss, a doctor and the father-in-law of Jared Kushner's brother, Josh, posted in a Facebook group for physicians asking for the group to brainstorm measures to stop coronavirus.
"I have direct channel to person now in charge at White House," Kloss reportedly wrote. "If you were in charge of Federal response to the Pandemic what would your recommendation be. Please only serious responses."
The Trump administration has faced criticism over its scattered response to the outbreak of COVID-19, which has reached more than 1,700 confirmed cases in the US, as Trump repeatedly downplayed the urgency of the outbreak and questions about the availability of tests have gone unanswered.
Trump has put Kushner in charge of researching potential steps to address coronavirus and presenting his findings to the president, POLITICO reported Wednesday.
In a statement to POLITICO, an unnamed White House official said that Kushner "is, of course involved in the coronavirus response, but he is not in charge of coronavirus research."
After posting in the 22,000-person Facebook group, called EM Docs, Kloss reportedly wrote that he sent 12 recommendations to Kushner Thursday morning.
"Jared is reading now," he wrote.