Donald Trump has made many a headline for insulting, belittling and sexualizing women. He said that Hillary Clinton got “schlonged” by President Obama in the 2008 election and has a history of calling women pigs, fat and disgusting animals. He’s also said that sexual assault should be expected in the military. Despite all of that, his daughter Ivanka claims that he is “clearly” pro-women.
In Town & Country Magazine, Ivanka, who introduced her father when he announced his candidacy, talks a little about her father’s presidential campaign and how much she supports him, “He’s my father and I love him and I fully support him,” she says. “I’m always there for him if it’s helpful.”
It’s understandable that most people with healthy relationships with their parents want to stand by them no matter what–we get the whole thick and thin thing, but Ivanka is not only standing by her father, she seems to stand with him, at least on some issues. “It’s amazing to see how his message has resonated and what he’s been able to accomplish as a non-politician with a very strong point of view,” she tells the magazine. On calling her father out on the outlandish and sexist and racist things he says, “Well, I’m his daughter. In a political capacity, I don’t [admonish him for his more outrageous assertions and personal insults]. It’s his campaign. I don’t feel that’s my role. But I would challenge him as a child. That’s what children do. Arabella challenges me every day. People ask me, do I ever disagree with my father? It would be a little strange if I didn’t.”
Of the specific comments he’s made about women, she brushes them off and clarifies that from where she stands, her father offends everyone, “You could also list a few comments he’s made about men that are unflattering. I think he’s highly gender neutral.” When asked if her father respects women she says, “Well, clearly, otherwise, I wouldn’t be where I am. If he didn’t feel that women were as competent as men, I would be relegated to some role subordinate to my brothers. I think this is one of his great strengths: He fully prioritizes merit and accomplishment and skill and ability over background, education, and gender.”
Speaking of her father’s business and track record for working with and hiring women over the years, she says, “and she was surrounded by women who worked at the highest levels within this organization. I think he’s one of the great advocates for women, and he has been a great example to me my whole life.”
The way Ivanka describes her father, one would think he’s a feminist but she says you’d have to ask him that, “He 100 percent believes in equality of gender, so, yes, absolutely—socially, politically, and economically, [he has] confidence in women to do any job that a man can do, and my whole life has been proof of that.”
Honestly, we’re not really convinced and now we are seriously side eyeing her too.
