Jared Kushner confirms meeting with Kanye West and claims it wasn't about 2020 election campaign

The West campaign is trying to get the rapper on the ballot in at least 10 states

White House adviser and Donald Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner confirmed a recent meeting with rapper Kanye West, but he said they had a “general conversation” about “policy” rather than the rapper’s presidential bid.

Mr Kushner’s revelation of the meeting, held while both were in Colorado, came after a report that Republican activists and operatives in at least five states have supported the entertainer’s long-shot White House candidacy.

That Washington Post report suggests some Republicans are backing Mr West’s bid in key swing states with the goal of taking votes from presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden.

Mr Kushner called Mr West a friend for a decade, and noted he has supported some of Mr Trump’s policies.

Mr West once showed up in the Oval Office and delivered a confusing diatribe while wearing a “Make America Great Again” ballcap. Mr Trump sat statue-like behind the Resolute Desk while Mr West went on and on.

West’s campaign has filed petitions to appear on the ballot in 10 states, some of which have been found inadequate by state officials.

Mr Trump trails Mr Biden in almost every swing state expected to decide the election. The race also is neck-and-neck in places that have been GOP strongholds for years, and which Mr Trump won in 2016.

That list includes Florida, Texas, Ohio, Georgia and North Carolina.

No credible poll has surveyed voters on a three-way race including any popular entertainers, however.

–Louise Hall contributed to this report.