John Oliver Roasts Jared Kushner For Hoping Middle East Stops ‘Doing Terrorism’
During Sunday’s Last Week Tonight episode, host John Oliver roasted President Donald Trump’s senior adviser and son-in-law Jared Kushner for his plan for peace in the Middle East. Vanity Fair reports Oliver does not think it’s a practical plan but an “economic wish list” at best and “rich boy wet dream” at worst.
Oliver blasted Kushner’s failure to detail precisely how he plans to achieve peace in the Middle East, instead focusing on his dream of investing in Palestine once peace is achieved.
“If we have a real peace, and there’s not a fear of people doing terrorism,” Kushner said before adding that things will improve from here.
“Yes,” Oliver said in response before laying into Kushner’s thought process.
“After years of thinking about it, Jared’s arrived at the conclusion that the Middle East would be better off if people stopped ‘doing terrorism.’ Just think about the chain of events that led to that moment.”
The 42-year-old comedian and political commentator also highlighted Kushner’s ties to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and suggested that this relationship might prevent people in the region from perceiving him as a neutral mediator. He said it should be clear to anyone with doubts about Kushner’s ability to create a Middle East peace plan that the only way he will do so is if “he somehow stumbles on a button in the woods labeled ‘Middle East peace button.’ And even then there’s only a 50-50 chance that he knows enough to f***ing press it.”
The Last Week Tonight host has skewered Kushner on multiple occasions, but Sunday night was one for the ages https://t.co/9tZ0oKNiA1
— VANITY FAIR (@VanityFair) July 1, 2019
The New York Post reports that Kushner and the Trump administration plans to create a $50 billion fund to generate prosperity and peace throughout the Middle East. On Saturday, they rolled out 179 business and infrastructure projects that Kushner plans to present to Arab political and business leaders in Bahrain this week.
“This is going to be the opportunity of the century if they have the courage to pursue it,” Kushner said.
Along with Oliver, many are skeptical of Kushner’s plan. Officials from Palestinian territories are already boycotting the meeting, and representatives from Israel are keeping their distance at the request of the White House.
But Kushner believes his plan will show Palestinians that they can create a prosperous future — including a $5 billion highway and rail transportation corridor between the West Bank and Gaza — if they make peace with Israel. Regardless, the road ahead will be challenging given the tensions in the region — some of which arguably stem from decisions made by the Trump administration.
