Hakeem Jeffries’ ‘private’ meetings with Jared Kushner central to petition against his House speakership

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries met privately with Jared Kushner, President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, and the meeting has now become part of the fight over who will be the next Speaker. As per The New York Times, the two men had talked about areas where they could work together.Hakeem Jeffries is facing a petition against his bid to be the next House Speaker. (Bloomberg)A petition against Jeffries becoming Speaker on Change.org has now crossed 600,000 signatures, as of this writing, and its creator has named his meetings Kushner the main reason, among many others.What we know about the Kushner meetingAs per a New York Times report from August 23, Jeffries met Kushner privately in recent weeks. Kushner is Trump’s top outside adviser.According to the report, the meeting took place in a private space in New York City. A mutual friend of the two men offered the space. One source described it as a broad conversation on a range of topics to the Times.They spoke about housing, immigration and the high cost of living as possible areas where they could agree. Two people told the Times that Kushner suggested Jeffries meet White House chief of staff Susie Wiles.In a statement, Jeffries did not mention it. He said: “In every conversation that we have with the Trump administration, we will continue to make it explicitly clear that the affordability crisis is not a hoax, and nothing short of transformational policy change is acceptable.”The Times said the meeting happened while Democrats and Trump were attacking each other strongly on the campaign trail. It said the timing showed that people close to Trump knew Democrats could win the House, and wanted to build a working relationship before any change.Also read: Thomas Massie to force vote on new Epstein files bill when the US House returns after midterms: ‘We’ll get 218 signatures’Petition uses the meeting against JeffriesAccording to Newsweek, the petition asks House Democrats not to support Jeffries as their next Speaker. It was started by Nicole Whitted, an author and social media creator who supports the Democratic Party and has more than 210,000 followers on TikTok. In a video posted on Wednesday, she said the petition had received “almost 20,000 signatures”.Whitted pointed to Jeffries’ private meeting with Jared Kushner as one of the reasons for opposing his bid. She told Newsweek: “He also held a private meeting with Jared Kushner, President Trump’s son-in-law and outside advisor, who himself is being investigated by the Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee.”Also read: Trump ally Harmeet Dhillon resigns as DOJ civil rights chief after Democrats’ midterm winsShe added: “These relationships and decisions raise serious questions for me and many of those who have signed this petition about transparency, political influence, and whose interests Democratic leadership is ultimately serving.”The petition says “Hakeem Jeffries is simply not the right choice” for Speaker. It also states: “We believe the Speaker should represent the Democratic voters, not just the Democratic establishment.”According to Newsweek, the petition urges all members of the incoming Congress to vote against Jeffries in January 2027. The petition page also states that Whitted is a Change Ambassador and receives payment in connection with the petition.Jeffries has formally announced that he is running for Speaker. House Democrats will first pick their candidate in an internal contest. The full House will vote in January, and a candidate needs 218 votes to win.