Hillary Clinton says if Ivanka Trump and other White House staffers disagree with the president’s controversial agenda and statements, they should leave. But Ivanka says it’s more complicated than that.
Buried in an in-depth interview with Refinery29 about her book, What Happened , came a scathing comment for the president’s “first daughter.” At first, they talked about the 2016 presidential election, the aftermath, public service, and being a woman in the public eye. The conversation then shifted to Donald Trump’s off-color comments about women surfacing during his campaign, as reported last year by the Inquisitr .
Noting how many Americans looked to Ivanka Trump as a “moderating force to the Trump administration” and believe “she’s kind of failed to live up to a lot of the things she said she would,” Refinery29’s Arianna Davis asked Hillary Clinton whether she believes the “first daughter” is “complicit in the administration’s actions.” And, if so, should we feel “sympathetic” toward her?
The 2016 Democratic presidential candidate pointed out that the person most responsible for the controversial and deeply unpopular acts that negatively affect millions of people — like the executive order ending DACA, the Obamacare repeal effort, the Muslim travel ban, attempts to defund Planned Parenthood, and the White House’s reaction to events in Charlottesville — is Donald Trump.
. @HillaryClinton dished why she has no regrets in an interview with @Refinery29 . Watch on XUMO https://t.co/o891pJVWC0
— XUMO (@XumoTV) September 13, 2017
However, Hillary Clinton also insisted that Ivanka Trump and others who serve the administration while claiming they don’t condone what it stands for should either say something or quit.
“Everyone associated with him … they’re either on board with that, or they’re not. And if they’re not, they need to be speaking out or leaving. But if they remain silent and just give lip service to contrary points of views, then they are part of his agenda and should be judged and held accountable for that.”
But Ivanka Trump insists it’s not so cut and dry. In an email that followed up on her interview with the Financial Times , a U.K. newspaper focused on business, finance, and the economy, she claimed liberals’ expectations of her are unrealistic and unfair .
“Some people have created unrealistic expectations of what they expect from me,” she declared. “That my presence in and of itself would carry so much weight with my father that he would abandon his core values and the agenda that the American people voted for when they elected him. It’s not going to happen. To those critics, shy of turning my father into a liberal, I’d be a failure to them.”
An unnamed insider agrees that Ivanka can only do so much.
“He [Donald Trump] listens. The hard part is she has no control.”
As for why she doesn’t publicly speak out against the policies and statements she insists she disagrees with, she claimed there’s a lot of debate behind the scenes, but, “To voice dissent publicly would mean I’m not part of the team. When you’re part of a team, you’re part of a team.”
Ivanka Trump even added that an unnamed “friend” from the Obama administration advised to maintain a “laser focus” on her core issues, or she won’t get anything done. And what are her core issues, exactly?
The Financial Times reports, “Since joining the White House in April, Ivanka has held listening tours on issues related to women in the workplace; workforce training programs and apprenticeships; the empowerment of female students in science, technology, engineering and mathematics subjects; human trafficking; and better policies for working families.” Nearest and dearest to her heart “is the creation of federally mandated paid family leave for new parents – something the US has never had before, even for federal employees.”
Many have forgotten that Ivanka Trump and Chelsea Clinton, Hillary’s daughter, were once widely reported as long-time close friends?
https://twitter.com/splashed_at/status/858783745285009410
Their parents were friendly with each other, too. Bill and Hillary Clinton even went to Donald and Melania Trump’s wedding.
Hillary Clinton and Bill Clinton at Donald Trump’s Wedding Photo https://t.co/MIBfGO781a via @people
— #CensoredExpressions (@ForbiddnChatter) June 1, 2017
Ivanka Trump claims she and her husband Jared Kushner “haven’t felt much of a chill” from their left-leaning social circles in New York City. However, it’s been a while since any photos of Ivanka and Chelsea enjoying each others’ company have appeared in the news.
[Featured Images by Mary Altaffer and Pablo Martinez Monsivais/AP Images]