Why Trump Critics Find The Success Of Jared Kushner's Book So Suspicious

There was a lot that we didn't know about Jared Kushner six years ago, but it wasn't long before we found out. Former President Donald Trump chose Kushner, his son-in-law by daughter Ivanka Trump, to become one of his senior advisors. Despite having no previous political experience, Kushner was tasked with a number of important responsibilities, including managing America's opioid crisis, supervising the border wall, and brokering peace in the Middle East (via Vox). 

Once Trump was defeated in the 2020 election, however, Kushner was perfectly content to leave Washington and politics behind. He reportedly decided to move to Miami immediately after the election results were announced (via The New York Times), and he, Ivanka, and their three children live there to this day.

Since the big move, Kushner has been keeping a fairly low profile, but he recently revealed what he's been up to: He published a book, "Breaking History: A White House Memoir," in August 2022. It quickly climbed up the best-seller lists of The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and other outlets. 

Ivanka promoted the title heavily on her Instagram account; one post said, "So proud of Jared for writing an incredible (and bestselling!) book, 'Breaking History,' detailing an extraordinary 4 years in the White House and beyond."

One might imagine that readers are lining up to buy Kushner's memoir at bookstores and putting in rush orders on Amazon Prime. But a new report hints that there's another factor at play.

Jared Kushner's memoir of his time in Washington is billed on Amazon as "fast-paced and surprisingly candid," positioning Kushner as the "outsider among outsiders" who managed to accomplish a lot in a short amount of time. But his success couldn't have been possible without the help of Donald Trump — and the former president may be responsible for the success of the book, as well.

A new Forbes article reveals that, just two weeks after Kushner's memoir dropped, the Save America Joint Fundraising Committee — which raises money for Trump's political action committees — placed a huge order for the title with Books-a-Million, totaling $131,000. Several weeks later, the committee spent another $27,000 on copies. 

Forbes also points out that Save America is offering signed copies of Kushner's book to supporters who donate $75 or more to the cause. The implication, of course, is that Trump's fundraising committee bought up a ton of copies to position the title high on best-seller lists.

The article inspired lots of reactions on Twitter. One commenter joked about Kushner's book being on the "Best Shiller List." Summing up the story, another tweeted, "This is how crappy, ghostwritten political books make it to the best seller list and how PACs launder money and funnel it to pay off political debts. Then the PACs give the crappy, ghostwritten books to donors who will never read them and take a tax writeoff."