Ivanka Trump Got Roasted At A Summit On Women In Germany
Ivanka Trump is in Germany, and in spite of the fact she has German ancestry -- her great grandfather was born there -- she hasn't received the warmest welcome.
Trump is attending an international summit on women entrepreneurship alongside German Chancellor Angela Merkel, with whom President Donald Trump had an awkward handshake last month.
Right off the bat, the "first daughter" was met with tough questions about her role in the White House, which has been an ongoing point of controversy.
The moderator, WirtschaftsWoche editor-in-chief Miriam Meckel, informed Trump the German people are "not that familiar with the concept of a first daughter."
Meckel noted Ivanka is not only the first daughter, but an assistant to President Trump, and asked,
What is your role, and who are you representing -- your father as president of the United States, the American people, or your business?
The summit continued to go downhill for Trump after that.
At one point, she was booed when attempting to defend her father's record on women.
Many view the president as a flaming misogynist and sexist, especially in the wake of a the release of tape during the US presidential campaign that captured him bragging about sexual assault.
But the first daughter tried to dismiss this narrative at the summit.
She said she was "very proud" of her father's advocacy for paid leave policies, referring to him as a "a tremendous champion of supporting families" who enables them "to thrive."
The audience, however, was not having it.
While it's difficult to hear in the video, the audience reportedly hissed and booed Ivanka Trump, which prompted Meckel to say,
You hear the reaction from the audience. I need to address one more point: Some attitudes toward women your father has displayed might leave one questioning whether he's such an empower-er for women.
Meckel has point. As noted above, President Trump came under fire for his attitude toward women during the US presidential campaign, and a number of women have accused him of sexual assault.
Ivanka Trump stood by her father. While she's "certainly heard the criticism from the media," she said, in her personal experience, "he encouraged me and enabled me to thrive."
President Trump has certainly granted his daughter a number of opportunities, but one might argue that's nepotism rather than feminism, especially when you look at how the president has treated women in general.
During an interview with New York Magazine in 1992, for example, the president made it abundantly clear how he feels about women when he said, "You have to treat 'em like shit."
Does that sound like a champion of equality?
Perhaps Ivanka Trump should stop blaming the media for what it says about her father and women, and actually hold him accountable for what he's said and done.
Citations: Ivanka Trump gets booed, hissed at during Berlin event (Politico)
