Hakeem Jeffries sat down with Jared Kushner. The Democratic House leader. The guy whose party spent four years calling Kushner's father-in-law a threat to democracy. That Jared Kushner.
The meeting happened as Democrats are favored to retake the House. Which raises the question: what exactly does the incoming majority need from a former senior advisor who spent his White House tenure solving Middle East peace with a PowerPoint and collecting security clearances like Pokémon cards?
Bipartisanship. That's the word you'll hear. Reaching across the aisle. Building bridges. All the phrases politicians deploy when they need to explain why they're having coffee with someone their base would gladly feed to wolves.
Jeffries reportedly wanted to discuss policy. With Kushner. A man whose primary qualification for his previous job was being married to the right person. This is like asking your cousin who sells essential oils for investment advice. Technically he has opinions. Technically you could listen to them.
Retail traders will see this headline and assume it means something. They'll draw lines on charts. Connect dots between Democratic policy and Kushner's Saudi-backed private equity fund. Construct elaborate theories about what sectors benefit from this alliance. They'll buy calls on companies that don't care they exist.
The market will ignore this completely. As it should. As it ignores every political meeting that gets breathlessly reported as if it moves needles. Jeffries could have met with a hologram of Henry Kissinger and the S&P would still close based on whether Jerome Powell coughed during his last speech.
But sure. This matters. A Democratic leader meeting with a Republican son-in-law definitely signals something important about midterm strategy. Just like your horoscope definitely explains why your portfolio is down 40 percent.
Photo by Luke Thornton on Unsplash
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