You are right about the Northeast being a bit of a Europe-lite way-station entry into the rest of the US.
After reading that article I’m a bit disillusioned about politics. Obviously Trump is surrounded by people who are not on board with his beliefs to put it mildly. From the very beginning I couldn’t stand Kushner. There’s something that that pencil neck geek that bugs me. He’s too liberal for one thing and he’s swarmy. I remember in the beginning of the administration there was a picture of him in Iraq in a three piece suit with a Kevlar vest and helmut. What a doofus. Got to give him one thing though, he has good taste in women.