In light of Jared Kushner’s unexpected arrival in Iraq on Monday, conservative commentator Glenn Beck expressed concerns about President Trump’s son-in-law-turned-senior-adviser’s large role in the White House.

“This is professional nepotism,” Beck told Yahoo News and Finance Anchor Bianna Golodryga in a Monday interview.

Kushner’s White House portfolio has repeatedly expanded and now includes China policy, tax reform, brokering peace in the Middle East and running a new White House innovation office.





Beck recalled his reaction when former President Bill Clinton put then-first lady Hillary Clinton in charge of his administration’s task force on universal health care shortly after his inauguration in 1993.

“I remember thinking, ‘I don’t know anything about the first lady. … This seems like nepotism,’” he said. “That wasn’t what we voted for.”

But now, Beck said, “that looks like kindergarten” compared with the family affair taking place inside the Trump administration.

It’s not just Kushner who’s raising red flags, but also Trump’s daughter Ivanka, who recently confirmed that she too would be taking a formal role, as an unpaid White House employee.

Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner enter the East Room of the White House for President Trump and German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s joint press conference on March 17. (Photo: Cheriss May/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

“It does bother me, especially as a conservative,” said Beck, adding, “[Trump’s] daughter is not a conservative.”

“What are her constitutional underpinnings?” he asked. “Where is she coming from? Where is Jared coming from?”

Beck questioned the qualifications of both, disputing the idea promoted by some — including Trump — that “maybe it’s time we run the country as a business.”

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“No, it’s time we run the country as a legitimate country,” he argued. “It’s not a business, it’s a constitutional republic.”

For the Trump administration’s part, White House press secretary Sean Spicer batted down concerns over Kushner’s portfolio during his media briefing Monday.

“He has a team that he oversees,” Spicer said, attempting to dispel the notion that Kushner might be taking on more than one man can handle. “There are lot of areas that he’s been working very diligently on behalf of the government, on behalf of the president’s agenda.”

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