A lawyer for Ivanka Trump and her husband, Jared Kushner, has threatened legal action against The Lincoln Project over New York City billboards erected in Times Square that depict the pair as showing “indifference” toward the devastating toll of the COVID- 19 pandemic.
According to ABC News, Ivanka Trump is prominently featured smiling in her billboard, gesturing her hands to show the number of New Yorkers and Americans who have died so far from COVID-19. In an adjacent ad, a businesslike Kushner is pictured with his arms folded, along with the quote attributed to him “[New Yorkers] are going to suffer, and that’s their problem.”
The couple’s lawyer, Marc Kasowitz, called the ads “false, malicious and defamatory” in a cease-and-desist letter sent to the Lincoln Project, which they posted on Twitter yesterday.
“Of course, Mr. Kushner never made any such statement, Ms. Trump never made any such gesture, and the Lincoln Project’s representations that they did are an outrageous and shameful libel,” the letter from Kasowitz said. “If these billboard ads are not immediately removed, we will sue you for what will doubtless be enormous compensatory and punitive damages.”
Trump’s image in the billboard was actually taken from a July photo of her, in which she held up a can of Goya products to show support for the brand after many called for a boycott. Kushner’s quote was taken from an article in the September issue of Vanity Fair in which Trump’s son in law criticized NY Gov Andrew Cuomo, accusing him of not doing enough to get PPE for New Yorkers in need. Kushner allegedly said, “His people are going to suffer, and that’s their problem.”
An hour after sharing the letter from Trump’s lawyer, the Lincoln Project responded, stating that the “billboards will stay up” and called the White House advisers “entitled, out-of-touch bullies.”
“The level of indignant outrage Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump have shown towards The Lincoln Project for exposing their indifference for the more than 223,000 people who have lost their lives due to their reckless mismanagement of COVID-19 is comical,” the group said in their statement.
