Book details how Mike Pence deferred to Jared Kushner like a 'supplicant' during meetings on the COVID crisis

• A new book says Jared Kushner was the man who was "really in charge" of the COVID crisis task force.
• This was because former VP Mike Pence "sounded like a supplicant" to Kushner by asking him what he thought and what he would do.
• The book added that a COVID task force meeting attendee was nauseated by Pence's deference.

While former Vice President Mike Pence was the one officially tapped to lead America's COVID response, it was Jared Kushner who was really in charge behind the scenes, says a new book.

An excerpt from "I Alone Can Fix It: Donald J. Trump's Catastrophic Final Year" by Washington Post journalists Carol Leonnig and Philip Rucker said Pence "sounded like a supplicant" to Kushner, the former president's son-in-law.

In the book, the authors said in one COVID task force meeting, it was "awkwardly clear" to those sitting in that Kushner was the one calling the shots, not Pence.

The authors wrote that the former vice president asked during the meeting: "Jared, what do you think?" and "Jared, what would you do?"

Meanwhile, Kushner was leading the session, examining data presented to him by Trump coronavirus task force coordinator Deborah Birx and "(challenging) other speakers" in the meeting.

An elected official like Pence showing deference to Kushner was "nauseating" to one attendee, the book's authors wrote.

Insider reported on July 15 that in the same book, the authors wrote that Kushner said Pence got to be America's coronavirus czar because the vice president "didn't have anything else to do."

Kushner's sizeable shadow role in the COVID response might not be much of a surprise to those who read about his self-described COVID "impact squad" last year. Dubbed the "Slim Suit Crowd" by FEMA veterans, the team was composed of private-sector individuals with little public health experience.

Kushner did not immediately respond to requests for comment from Insider.

Meanwhile, a Pence spokesman told Insider that the former vice-president "looks forward to writing a definitive book about all of the achievements and challenges of the Trump-Pence administration."

"Unlike some staff engaging in image repair, he chose not to participate in sensationalist books that attempt to revise history," the spokesman said.

In the meantime, Pence has indicated that he will run for the White House in 2024.