(The Hill) – Former White House senior adviser Jared Kushner in his new memoir offers few details about former President Trump’s battle with COVID-19 in 2020, but he did pinpoint a moment when he knew his father-in-law was on the mend.
“I knew he was feeling better when he requested one of his favorite meals: a McDonald’s Big Mac, Filet-o-Fish, fries and a vanilla shake,” Kushner wrote in “Breaking History,” due out Tuesday.
In the book, an advanced copy of which was obtained by The Hill, Kushner does not offer many insights into how serious Trump’s condition was when he contracted the virus in the home stretch of the 2020 campaign, before any COVID-19 vaccines had been authorized.
He mentions then-chief of staff Mark Meadows saying he was “nervous” about Trump’s diagnosis, but otherwise just recounts encouraging Trump to go to Walter Reed Medical Center, which could offer better treatment than remaining at the White House.
“As the president recovered at Walter Reed, we all recognized that the campaign would have to wait until Trump was both physically strong and medically cleared to return to the trail,” Kushner wrote. “In the meantime, he spoke directly to Americans through social media to update them on his recovery.”
Trump contracted the virus days after his first debate with now-President Biden in Cleveland. The White House at the time did not disclose whether he complied with the venue’s testing requirement for both candidates.
Meadows was caught days later attempting to brief reporters anonymously about Trump’s condition at Walter Reed, expressing concern about his oxygen levels. At one point, Trump left isolation in the hospital to take a ride around the block with Secret Service so he could wave at supporters gathered near the hospital.
Kushner himself tested positive for the virus in November 2020, a short time after the election. He attributes the fact that he missed much of the discussion over how to handle fraud claims to his absence while in isolation.