New York Times skewers Jared Kushner's White House memoir: 'Reading this book reminded me of watching a cat lick a dog's eye goo'
- The New York Times book critic Dwight Garner did not mince words in his review of Jared Kushner's new memoir.
- The book "is an earnest and soulless — Kushner looks like a mannequin, and he writes like one — and peculiarly selective appraisal of Donald J. Trump's term in office," Garner wrote.
The New York Times book critic Dwight Garner painted a less than flattering picture this week of former White House senior advisor Jared Kushner's new memoir.
Kushner's book, "Breaking History," is slated for release on August 23. Insider has not independently obtained a copy.
Here's some of what Garner had to say about it:
- "'Breaking History' is an earnest and soulless — Kushner looks like a mannequin, and he writes like one — and peculiarly selective appraisal of Donald J. Trump's term in office."
- "This book is like a tour of a once majestic 18th-century wooden house, now burned to its foundations, that focuses solely on, and rejoices in, what's left amid the ashes: the two singed bathtubs, the gravel driveway and the mailbox."
- "Reading this book reminded me of watching a cat lick a dog's eye goo."
Kushner made headlines during the Trump presidency as his father-in-law's point person for a slew of policy issues. In addition to being a "shadow diplomat," Kushner was in charge of securing peace in the Middle East, criminal justice reform, government reform, and opioid crisis management. He was also initially one of few people to receive the President's Daily Brief but lost access to it after being denied a top-secret security clearance.
Garner wrote in his review that Kushner "repeatedly beats his own drum" and "recalls every drop of praise he's ever received."
He went on to quote some lines from the book in which acquaintances and colleagues heaped adulation on the former first son-in-law, including:
- "I don't know how you do this every day on so many topics. That was really hard! You deserve an award for all you've done."
- "Jared's a genius. People complain about nepotism — I'm the one who got the steal here."
- "I've been in Washington a long time, and I must say, Jared is one of the best lobbyists I've ever seen."
But as Trump's presidency neared its final days, Kushner told his wife, Ivanka, that he was ready to leave the White House.
"It's been a wild five years, but in thirty days, we'll have a lot less responsibility and we will get our lives back," Kushner told Ivanka in December 2020, according to an excerpt of his memoir that Insider previously obtained.
Kushner and Ivanka Trump have largely stayed out of the spotlight since they left the White House and moved to Miami. Though the couple is an estimated 1.5 hours away from Trump's Mar-a-Lago club in south Florida, they have avoided the former president, CNN reported in June 2021.
Both Kushner and Ivanka Trump also testified before the House select committee investigating the Capitol riot, and parts of their interviews were played by the panel during a series of public hearings in June and July.
A spokesperson for Kushner did not immediately respond to a request for comment.