Being the president's kid isn't easy, but Ivanka Trump doubled down on the role by taking
an official job in The West Wing.
And ever since, the media hasn't exactly portrayed her in a flattering light.
This is the shady side of Ivanka Trump.
Tone deaf tweets
In April 2018, then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced a "zero-tolerance policy"
on immigration, resulting in migrant children being separated from the adults who accompanied
them, and then being placed in detention camps.
The policy was widely criticized, and by the end of the month, a New York Times report
revealed the Department of Health and Human Services had quote, "lost track of nearly
1,500 migrant children" whom they placed with sponsors.
As the national immigration debate raged on in May 2018, Ivanka faced instant backlash
after tweeting a cozy picture of her then two-year-old son, Theodore.
Political scientist and former Democratic strategist Brian Klaas blasted Ivanka's tweet
as "unbelievably tone deaf," and comedian Patton Oswalt indicated the first daughter's
apparent hypocrisy, tweeting, "Isn't it the just the best to snuggle your little one,
knowing exactly where they are, safe in your arms?
It's the best.
The BEST.
Right, Ivanka?
Right?"
What about those emails?
Reminiscent of Hillary Clinton's infamous usage of a private email server, a November
2018 report in The Washington Post confirmed that,
"Ivanka Trump sent hundreds of emails last year to White House aides, Cabinet officials
and her assistants using a personal account, many of them in violation of federal records
rules."
When asked by Good Morning America's Deborah Roberts how she "wound up in a similar situation"
after Clinton's private email use was central to Trump's campaign, Ivanka replied,
"Well there really is no equivalency.
All of my emails that relate to any form of government work… are all part of the public
record."
She continued, in her own defense, saying :
"In my case, all of my emails are on the White House server.
There's no intent to circumvent."
Not gonna talk about it
Before former Playboy playmate Karen McDougal and adult entertainer Stormy Daniels went
public with their alleged affairs with Donald Trump, the president already had a long list
of women accusing him of varying degrees of misconduct, per ABC News.
But when Ivanka then appeared on NBC News in February 2018, she said she believed her
father's denials, and resented the question about it, stating,
"I think it's a pretty inappropriate question to ask a daughter if she believes the accusers
of her father."
Her former friend, Chelsea Clinton, appeared on The View to push back on Ivanka's insistence
that the line of questioning was inappropriate, saying,
"I think that anyone who works for the White House should be expected to answer any question
about the White House."
America first?
Not so much
On Inauguration Day, President Donald Trump declared, quote, "We will follow two simple
rules: buy American and hire American."
"This is the moment, and Donald Trump is the person, to make America great again."
But despite her father's "America First" slogan, The Washington Post uncovered that Ivanka's
now-defunct clothing line…
"… [relied] exclusively on foreign factories in countries such as Bangladesh, Indonesia
and China, where low-wage laborers have limited ability to advocate for themselves."
The report also included interviews with employees of a garment factory that made Ivanka's dresses.
One worker claimed,
"My monthly salary is not enough for everyday expenses, also not for the future."
A year after the report was released, Ivanka shut the company down.
Sketchy stance on women's rights
Ivanka's official Twitter bio previously said she was a quote, "passionate advocate for
the education and empowerment of women and girls," before Bustle reported Ivanka changed
it in January 2017.
She even wrote a book entitled, Women Who Work: Rewriting the Rules for Success.
"My mission and quest is to be a small part of changing the narrative around what it looks
like to be a woman who works."
While her father might not be a champion for women's rights, surely Ivanka must be, right?
Well, it turns out, not so much.
According to The New York Times, Ivanka's brand didn't exactly live up to its progressive
image.
Marissa Kraxberger, a former executive, spoke about the time she discussed paid maternity
leave with Ivanka in 2013.
The paper reported,
"[Kraxberger] described Ms. Trump as saying, 'Well, we don't have [a] maternity leave policy
here; I went back to work one week after having my child, so that's just not something I'm
used to.'"
President of Ivanka's brand, Abigail Klem, told The Times,
"… after consulting employees [including Kraxberger], the company put in place a policy
for two-month paid family leave, as well as flexible working hours, in the summer of 2014."
The Trump Foundation investigation
In July 2018, the New York Attorney General's office filed a lawsuit against the Donald
J. Trump Foundation, Donald Trump, and his three eldest children.
According to former New York Attorney General Barbara Underwood,
"[The foundation was] little more than a checkbook for payments from Mr. Trump or his businesses
to nonprofits, regardless of their purpose or legality."
Trump tweeted that he wouldn't settle the case, but on December 18th, 2018, the Times
reported,
"[The Foundation has] agreed to dissolve and give away all its remaining assets… as part
of an ongoing investigation and lawsuit by the New York attorney general."
On top of being named in the lawsuits, Ivanka stepped up the scandalous drama when she failed
to disclose her role as director of the disgraced foundation, on the financial disclosure forms
that all White House administration officials are required to complete, according to Newsweek.
Progressive fundraiser Harrell Kirstein told the outlet,
"Ivanka Trump and her father think they're above the law…
They have been caught lying and attempting to sell out the public for their own personal
gain."