Ivanka Trump ‘Humiliated’ In Tokyo At Women’s Empowerment Event By Empty Seats, Non-Believers Of Cause
If crowd size is an indicator of public support and acceptance, Ivanka Trump may have been snubbed, according to a new report that suggests the first daughter is not walking the talk as the de facto voice of women’s rights.
Ivanka Trump traveled to Tokyo on Friday as part of her White House role as Donald Trump’s adviser. Trump was a speaker among other guests invited to the 2017 World Assembly of Women. Ivanka arrived two days ahead of her father’s arrival in the region for his 12-day tour of Asia.
Ivanka joined Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. She told the light crowd that she was so moved by her father’s agenda to empower women in all walks of life that she left her lucrative and powerful role with her Ivanka fashion brand. Ms. Trump’s talking points focused on advocating for a global push to empower women in technology, math, engineering, and science — fields traditionally represented largely by men, citing the New York Times report.
Ivanka spoke about the White House administration’s quest to bolster initiatives that allow for subsidies in the country’s budget to shore up paid family leave. Ms. Trump touted her father’s drive to make good on his campaign promise of tax reform.
Ivanka said if Congress ratifies the president’s changes, the result would yield more take-home pay for working Americans while helping businesses to reinvest in their brands.
However, despite the positive message Ivanka Trump brought to the summit, not many people were in attendance to hear her talking points. Ushers were seen relocating everyone to the front to fill the empty seats. On the light turnout, the Times said her father would simply say the room was half full.
This is what the hall in Tokyo looked like as Ivanka Trump gave her speech at a Japanese government women’s conference pic.twitter.com/7IzXMpxa6b
— Anna Fifield (@annafifield) November 3, 2017
A White House spokesperson responded to inquiries about Ivanka’s apparent snub in Japan. Josh Raffel said Ivanka’s speech “was the most registered event” at the summit, but due to security constraints, not all attendees arrived at the start of her discussion. A spokesperson for Japan’s Foreign Ministry echoed Raffel’s comments.
However, the site Shareblue has another take on the small crowd during Ivanka Trump’s address. It said in no uncertain terms that Ivanka was “humiliated” by the small turnout and many people are put off by her alleged feigned support of women’s empowerment. “Nobody buys it — at home or abroad,” the report said.
Empty seats greet @IvankaTrump at women's empowerment speech in Tokyo: "Unfilled rows brought to mind the large gaps in the crowd at her father’s inauguration in January" https://t.co/96hlki5VYP
— Andrea Chalupa ?? (@AndreaChalupa) November 3, 2017
“Ivanka Trump has always sold herself as a champion of ‘women’s empowerment.’ It is a phrase she loves to use, enthusiastically promoted by the news media.
“But as she pitches ’empowerment,’ she is meeting fewer and fewer people willing to listen to her.”
The Times pointed to a survey that suggested Japan’s citizens are less supportive of Donald Trump than they were of Barack Obama. The Pew Research Center’s poll showed that less than 25 percent of Japanese citizens believe Trump will “do the right thing in world affairs.”
Hardly anyone showed up to Ivanka Trump's speech about women's empowerment in Tokyo https://t.co/hKkVo5GmCx pic.twitter.com/Nj6udfDLuY
— Newsweek (@Newsweek) November 3, 2017
This number is down 54 percent from the level of confidence felt under Obama’s administration. The negative sentiment toward Trump is likely affecting the public’s perception of Ivanka and other members of her family, pundits posit.
The critique of Ivanka Trump goes further than her connection to the president. As sources wrote, Ivanka shoulders some responsibility in her father’s divisive rhetoric.
“She sat by as the Trump administration let businesses kill birth control coverage, ended civil rights guidelines for campus rape survivors, and forced pregnant undocumented teenagers to go to anti-abortion ‘crisis centers’ against their will.”
At the end of the charged remarks against Ivanka Trump, the site said that every unoccupied seat during the first daughter’s speech signifies “someone who doesn’t buy Ivanka as a champion of women. She can pay all the lip service she wants, but talk is cheap and her actions speak loudest.”
Share your thoughts below. Did the Japanese community really snub Ivanka Trump or is there a logical explanation behind the empty seats, as several sources explained?
[Featured Image by Paul Morigi/Getty Images]
