Jeffries Met Privately With Kushner While Democrats Fight Their Own Socialist Wing

Hakeem Jeffries sat down privately with Jared Kushner in New York City in recent weeks, according to reporting by Annie Karni and Maggie Haberman of The New York Times, confirmed by ABC News correspondent Rachel Scott. The meeting, held in a private space offered by a mutual friend, covered immigration, housing and the cost of living, according to a source familiar with the discussion cited by CNN.

Jeffries and Kushner have worked together before. The two previously collaborated on the First Step Act, the 2018 bipartisan criminal justice law that eased mandatory minimum sentences and reduced the federal prison population. During the recent sit-down, Kushner reportedly suggested Jeffries follow up with White House chief of staff Susie Wiles, according to CNN.

Neither man's office would comment on the record, according to Political Wire, which described the conversation as a broad, wide-ranging exchange rather than a negotiation over specific legislation. Jeffries did put out a statement to CNN making clear he isn't softening his line on Trump: "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."

Speaker Mike Johnson, asked about the meeting on Fox News, downplayed it as a hedge rather than a sign the White House expects to lose the House. "I'm telling you, we're going to defy history and hold this majority," Johnson said, adding that Kushner "is a smart guy and he hedges his bets" but isn't involved in "day-to-day" White House operations.

The reaction from the left flank was immediate and unflattering to Jeffries.

On X, reactions to the news ranged from confusion to open hostility. One user, @AimsHunt06, wrote she doesn't "like this at all," questioning why Jeffries would meet with someone who isn't a government employee and works on foreign policy to discuss domestic issues, adding she hopes "someone challenges him for Speaker." Another user compared Jeffries to Neville Chamberlain. Democratic-aligned social media accounts underscored how exposed Jeffries is on his left right now.

Johnson has been working to amplify this exposure. During a 30-day, 34-district campaign swing, Johnson has been telling crowds Democrats are in "an open civil war" and don't have a real leader. At a stop for Rep. Jen Kiggans in Virginia Beach, Johnson pointed to the Bronx, Jeffries' own backyard, where Congressional Hispanic Caucus Chairman Adriano Espaillat lost his primary to Darializa Avila Chevalier, a socialist candidate.

Jeffries endorsed Espaillat, as party leaders typically do for incumbents. Espaillat lost anyway. In a separate Brooklyn and Manhattan-area race, former Democratic Socialists of America member Brad Lander beat Rep. Dan Goldman, another Jeffries endorsee. And in a Brooklyn-Queens district being vacated by Rep. Nydia Velázquez, DSA-aligned Claire Valdez won a race where Jeffries didn't even endorse, beating Velázquez's own chosen successor.

All three winners were backed by New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, himself a DSA member. None of them has publicly said Jeffries should stay on as the Democrats' House leader, which Johnson has been happy to point out.

Johnson has turned this into a broader midterm message he's framing as "common sense vs. communism," according to the Daily Signal. He's launched a website called Contrast for America laying out DSA policy positions, including the group's stated goals to abolish prisons, abolish the Senate, and expand the House into what Johnson calls a Marxist-dominated unicameral body. Those are positions drawn from the DSA's own "Workers Deserve More" platform, not Johnson's invention, though he's the one connecting them to sitting House Democrats.

Jeffries has not endorsed DSA or socialism, and nothing in the record shows him embracing those positions. But on "Meet the Press," Jeffries acknowledged that DSA-aligned members elected to Congress would caucus with Democrats, which is exactly the opening Johnson is using.

Jeffries is quietly building bridges to Trump's inner circle in case Democrats win the House, while simultaneously losing control of primaries in his own district's backyard to a socialist movement his own base seems to be cheering on. Republicans are betting the second story drowns out the first. Democrats are betting Trump's approval numbers and the $40 trillion national debt, cited by CNN, matter more to voters than a primary fight in the Bronx.

The midterms in November will settle which bet paid off. Jeffries has to manage a socialist insurgency at home while keeping a back channel open to the White House, a balancing act neither wing of his party seems fully comfortable with.