Jared Kushner Says Father-in-Law Donald Trump Is Not 'Anti-Semitic'

Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner has become a growing force behind the scenes of the presidential campaign, but he was thrust into the spotlight this week after one of his employees penned an open letter to him accusing Trump of anti-Semitism.

Kushner is a public figure in his own right, having purchased The New York Observer a decade ago and running his family's real estate firm. His 2009 wedding to Ivanka Trump only strengthened the public's interest in him. In recent months, he's been focused on helping his father-in-law's campaign, largely behind the scenes -- until now.

The Trump campaign's most recent controversy -- in which the mogul's account posted a photo of Hillary Clinton that featured a six-pointed star that many likened to a Star of David over a pile of money -- has spread past the campaign and into Kushner's business.

Dana Schwartz, an entertainment writer at The Observer, wrote an open letter to her boss's boss about the photo. "You went to Harvard, and hold two graduate degrees. Please do not condescend to me and pretend you don’t understand the imagery of a six-sided star when juxtaposed with money and accusations of financial dishonesty," Schwartz wrote in the letter that was addressed to Kushner and published on The Observer's website.

"I’m asking you, not as a 'gotcha' journalist or as a liberal but as a human being: how do you allow this? Because, Mr. Kushner, you are allowing this," she wrote.

This is not the first time that The Observer has become entangled with the Trump campaign. New York Magazine reported that Observer Editor-in-Chief Ken Kurson read over Trump's speech to the pro-Israel American Israel Public Affairs Committee before Trump delivered it in March. Kurson then told The Huffington Post that he “looked at a draft” of the speech.

After Schwartz's letter was published, Kurson told Politico that he disagrees with her criticism and said that "in my opinion, Donald Trump is not a Jew hater," though he called her "a beautiful and thoughtful writer."

Later Tuesday, Kushner released a statement on the matter, in what appears to be one of the very few times he has spoken publicly about his father-in-law during Trump’s presidential campaign.

"My father-in-law is an incredibly loving and tolerant person who has embraced my family and our Judaism since I began dating my wife," Kushner said in a statement.

"I know that Donald does not at all subscribe to any racist or anti-Semitic thinking. I have personally seen him embrace people of all racial and religious backgrounds. The suggestion that he may be intolerant is not reflective of the Donald Trump I know," the statement continued.

But Schwartz did not seem impressed by Kushner's response to her letter, posting on Twitter last night, "With all due respect, Mr. Kushner, that wasn't the point."

Editor's note: The writer of this story was an intern at The Observer a number of years ago but did not interact with Dana Schwartz, Ken Kurson or Jared Kushner.

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