MSNBC, December 6, 2024
Authoritarian leaders do not lack negative character traits — most of them are insecure, obsessed with revenge, vain and brutal. But many are family men, in their own fashion. Relatives often figure prominently in their inner circles, alongside trusted cronies and sycophants. The leader’s children may run the official family business, as with former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and President-elect Donald Trump, or the unofficial family business of smuggling arms, diamonds and other precious goods, as with former Congolese dictator Mobutu Sese Seko’s son Kongulu Mobutu.
Trump’s record is squarely in this tradition. During his first term, his daughter Ivanka Trump and son-in-law Jared Kushner served as “presidential advisers.” An investigation by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington reported that the pair amassed up to $640 million in outside income while serving in the White House. His daughter-in-law, Lara Trump, has been co-chair of the Republican National Committee since May, overseeing a purge of RNC staffers and essentially merging the committee with her father-in-law’s campaign. Lara Trump likely fulfilled Donald Trump’s expectations of “complete, unabashed and, perhaps, a blind loyalty to the candidate,” in the words of former RNC Chair Marc Racicot.
So, it’s not surprising to find additional Trump in-laws among those appointed to positions in his second administration. Representing the Kushner family now is real estate executive Charles Kushner, Jared’s father, who served two years in prison starting in 2005 after being convicted of tax evasion and witness tampering. Donald Trump pardoned him in 2020, and last month chose him for the post of U.S. ambassador to France — a gift that comes with a palatial residence in Paris.
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