Politics

Ivanka Trump Responds To Accusations She’s ‘Complicit’

Ivanka Trump
Kaitlan Collins Contributor
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Ivanka Trump said she doesn’t criticize her father in public when they disagree because it would render her less effective with “the people ultimately making decisions.” After she was accused of being complicit, Donald Trump’s daughter told Gayle King why she keeps things in the family.

(Photo: CBS screen grab)

“I would say not to conflate lack of public denouncement with silence,” Ivanka said in an interview with CBS Wednesday. “I think there are multiple ways to have your voice heard. In some cases, it’s through protest and it’s through going on the nightly news and talking about or denouncing every issue on which you disagree with. Other times it is quietly and directly and candidly.”

“So where I disagree with my father, he knows it. And I express myself with total candor. Where I agree, I fully lean in and support the agenda and– and hope– that I can be an asset to him and– and make a positive impact. But I respect the fact that he always listens. It’s how he was in business. It’s how he is as president.”

“The issues in this country are so big and the problems are enormously complicated, but I am incredibly confident in my father to be able to execute on his promise to people who elected him,” she continued. “We live in a very polarizing time. This predates my father. I think the election highlighted for people just how divided this country was.”

“I do think there’s a time for public denouncement, but I also think there’s a time for discussion. And so you asked me about people who criticize me for not taking to social media on every single issue, and I would ask them if that would render me more effective or less effective with the people ultimately making decisions.”

She noted that she is not the candidate who won the presidency, her father is.

“For me this isn’t about promoting my viewpoints. I wasn’t elected by the American people to be president.
I don’t think it will make me a more effective advocate to articulate every issue publicly. I’ll take hits from some critics, and then other people in the long term will respect the things I’ve done.”

King also asked Ivanka about her comment that she wouldn’t take a job in the White House, even though she was recently named assistant the president.

“When I spoke to ’60 Minutes,’ it was five or six days following the election and I was processing real time the new reality and what it would mean,” she said. “I realized having one foot in and one foot out wouldn’t work. The reality is that it all happened very organically for me.”

She said she had to consider what the move would mean for her family.

“I had to determine that my husband and I, we both wanted to be in D.C., that it was viable to move our children, that they would be happy in the new environment. After I decided I wanted to try, I needed to divest with numerous businesses. So did my husband. I wanted to understand where I could be an asset to the administration. About how I could help my father and, ultimately, the country.”

In her new position, she said she will continue the advocacy work she did in the private sector and will focus on women empowerment and education.

“I’m still my father’s daughter. This title was about giving critics the comfort that I am holding myself to the highest ethical standard.”