Following in her father's business and political footsteps,
Ivanka Trump has a knack for making headlines for all the wrong reasons,
sometimes through little fault of her own. But from shady comments to cringe-worthy moments,
let's look at Ivanka Trump's history of controversial TV appearances.
Ivanka Trump co-hosted the 1997 Miss Teen USA beauty pageant - staged by the organization's
then-owner, her father Donald Trump - without any notable on-air experience. An audience of millions
watched the youngster, who was only 15 at the time, fluff her way through the high-profile gig.
Alongside co-host J. Eddie Peck, "teen expert" Ivanka regularly became
tongue-tied in front of the cameras and was prone to cracking cringe-worthy jokes,
including this post-swimsuit round clanger:
"Thanks, Eddie. I can guarantee my brothers were loving that. Are any of you up there single?"
As Vicky Ward described in her book about Ivanka and her husband, Jared Kushner - Kushner,
Inc. - the teen seemed, quote, "horrendously nervous" throughout the event. However,
the journalist did concede that Ivanka would "recover and mature" in this
regard as she got older and continued to give TV appearances, adding that, quote,
"Ivanka's glossy looks and poise eventually became an important extension of [her father's] brand."
Donald Trump has raised eyebrows on numerous occasions when it comes to his conduct toward
his oldest daughter. In 2003, he told shock jock Howard Stern that Ivanka had, quote,
"the best body." In 2004, Trump claimed to New York magazine that, quote,
"every guy in the country wants to go out with my daughter."
However, Donald's most questionable comments about Ivanka arguably came about when she was
also in attendance to hear them firsthand. In 2006, the pair visited the set of daytime
TV institution The View to promote the latest season of The Apprentice - yet
few were talking about the reality show by the time their interview ended. Instead,
it was Donald's highly inappropriate remarks about his daughter that grabbed everyone's attention.
Host Star Jones asked what Donald would do if Ivanka were asked to pose for Playboy.
"I don't think Ivanka would do that inside the magazine. Although she does have a very nice
figure. I've said that if Ivanka weren't my daughter, perhaps I'd be dating her."
A daddy-daughter appearance on The Wendy Williams Show in 2013 produced a similar
result. When Williams asked the pair about their "favorite things" they have in common,
Ivanka said real estate and golf, while her father took the conversation elsewhere.
"Well, I was going to say 'sex,' but I can't relate that to her."
So how does Ivanka feel about being the subject of such talk?
Well, a year after The View awkwardness, she told Harper's Bazaar,
"There's no doubting my father values beauty, but in my formative years,
I never thought he valued it to the point that it should make me uncomfortable."
Ivanka Trump once again found herself in the headlines for a talk show appearance in
2007 - but on this occasion, it was fellow Jimmy Kimmel Live! guest Andy Dick whose behavior toward
the heiress made everyone feel uncomfortable. Not exactly known for his decorum, the comedian got a
little too handsy while positioned next to Ivanka on the late-night show, rubbing her legs without
permission after noticing they were covered in glitter. Understandably, she didn't appreciate
this invasion of her personal space and slapped his hand away as Kimmel warned him not to do it
again. Kimmel was forced to physically restrain the funnyman when his hands continued to wander.
"Donald Trump will kill both of us."
Dick was eventually escorted off the set. Kimmel told Extra that Dick didn't apologize for his
behavior and didn't seem to grasp what all the fuss was about. When the clip resurfaced
a decade later, when Donald was president, Dick wrote of the incident on Instagram,
"The time I 'groped' Trump's daughter, Ivanka, on Jimmy Kimmel Live. Her legs were sparkling,
and I was trying to see if the glitter would wipe off.
I also mistakenly thought she would date me. I was jokingly carried off by security. Is
anybody going to carry [Donald] Trump off? No joke. Confusing times."
Ivanka Trump proved that she'd inherited her father's love of product placement
with a seemingly shameless bit of TV advertising for her jewelry company
in the wake of the 2016 presidential election. While appearing on 60 Minutes,
the businesswoman sported a bracelet worth almost $11,000. Shortly after the episode aired,
NBC News reported that Ivanka Trump Fine Jewelry had sent out a "style alert" email
to fashion journalists promoting the piece from its Metropolis Collection.
It's not known whether Ivanka was aware of the email in question, but that didn't stop
criticism that she was allegedly trying to profit from the coverage of the election.
Shifting the blame on a "well-intentioned marketing employee," the company's president,
Abigail Klem, stated in part to the news outlet,
"We are proactively discussing new policies and
procedures with all of our partners going forward."
Of course, this wasn't the first time that Ivanka had been caught up in such a furor,
either. At the Republican National Convention earlier that same year,
she wore a white floral outfit from her own fashion line.
Allegations about his abusive behavior toward the opposite sex have dogged Donald Trump
throughout his political career. In fact, according to The Atlantic, no fewer than 19
women had come forward to make a claim of sexual misconduct against the president by
the time that Ivanka Trump sat down for an interview with NBC News in February 2018.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, Donald's eldest daughter was in no mood to address such
accusations when the subject came up in her chat with Peter Alexander. She told Alexander,
"I think it's a pretty inappropriate question to ask a daughter if she believes the accusers
of her father when he's affirmatively stated that there's no truth to it.
I don't think that's a question you would ask many other daughters."
"I believe my father, I know my father,
so I think I have that right as a daughter to believe my father."
This response enraged several critics, including Vogue's Bridget Read,
who argued that the heiress was guilty of being selective when deciding whether to speak as
a senior White House representative or as Donald's daughter. Read wrote,
"Actually, Ivanka, it is entirely appropriate to be asked to address the
behavior of your boss - especially when you claim to use the position, access,
and platform he affords you to advocate on behalf of women in the workplace."
Ivanka Trump didn't exactly make a great impression when she appeared
on Good Morning America in November 2018. The presidential advisor didn't seem to be aware
of a controversial immigration policy that her father had only just implemented days before.
In a Thanksgiving Q&A, Trump revealed he'd given authorization for troops to,
quote, "use lethal force" against any asylum seekers and migrants at the US-Mexican border.
"If they have to, they're going to use lethal force."
Yet less than a week later, his eldest daughter claimed that nothing of the sort
had been officially approved. When asked about the matter by Deborah Roberts, Ivanka replied,
"I don't believe that that's what he said, but his
primary role as commander in chief is obviously to protect the nation's borders."
The first daughter, after a brief pause, laughed off the idea.
"Lethal force in this case would - that is not I think something that anyone's talking about."
However, the well-prepared interviewer made sure she came with the receipts
and subsequently showed footage of Donald's remarks. Ivanka tried to brush things off,
claiming that the president was only talking about lethal force as a "last
resort" for those who allegedly pose a serious threat to national security.
The issue of immigration got Ivanka Trump into hot water once again when she was interviewed
on Face the Nation in December 2019. When questioned about her father's controversial
policy of separating migrant children from their families at the US-Mexican border, the
presidential advisor immediately tried to pass on the responsibility. Ivanka told Margaret Brennan,
"Immigration is not part of my portfolio, obviously."
The first daughter then steered the conversation away from family separation, saying,
"I think everyone should be engaged, and the full force of the U.S. government is committed
to this effort to border security, to protecting the most vulnerable. That
includes those being trafficked across our border, which this president has committed to
countering and combating human trafficking in an incredibly comprehensive, aggressive way."
Unsurprisingly, Ivanka's buck-passing didn't go down well on social media.
The Democratic Coalition's Stephanie Kennedy posted on Twitter,
"Whoa! Slow that roll, Face the Nation. Ivanka's staying in her tidy,
lazy little lane. Trump's systematic torture plots
to terrorize immigrant families and their children are simply NOT Ivanka's issue."
Meanwhile, Newsweek columnist Naveed Jamali tweeted,
"What qualifies Ivanka Trump to have an opinion on anything she is talking about?"
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