A White House advisor, Avi Berkowitz, spoke in defence of Jared Kushner on Wednesday, explaining that former secretary of state Hillary Clinton had misunderstood his comments on a possible election delay, Fox News reported on Wednesday.
"He literally said: 'It's not my decision to make'", Berkowitz said.
Kushner responded to a question about whether the US 2020 election, scheduled for 3 November, could be postponed due to the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, saying that he was not the one to make that decision. "I'm not sure I can commit one way or the other, but right now that's the plan", he replied.
Clinton wrote on her Twitter, "I can't believe I have to write this sentence, but the president's son-in-law doesn't get to decide when the election is", attaching an article by the New York Times.
The newspaper, however, did not include what Kushner said afterward, Fox News added.
"Hopefully by the time we get to September, October, November, we've done enough work with testing and with all the different things we’re trying to do to prevent a future outbreak of the magnitude that would make us shut down again", Kushner said.
Democrats' fears of an election delay might have been fueled by former vice president and presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden, who raised the issue despite President Donald Trump's assurances that the vote would take place as scheduled.
"Mark my words, I think he is going to try to kick back the election somehow — come up with some rationale why it can't be held", Biden said.
Biden became the Democratic Party's presumptive nominee after he swept most of the later primary elections and competing candidates pulled out of the race.