While most of Donald Trump’s family has been controversial at times, it is Trump himself who often seems like a lightning rod for media attention. If he wasn’t so famous, nobody would know who his family is, but by the same token, Trump’s many controversies draw attention to what his family would have otherwise done from the shadows.
That’s the position that Ivanka Trump found herself in after Donald Trump made her one of his official presidential advisors in 2017. She now had a government payroll and constant media scrutiny, but all that attention meant that reporters ended up uncovering one major Ivanka controversy after another.
What kinds of controversy are we talking about? Keep reading to discover the craziest moments!
Backing Donald Trump’s election fraud claims
While Donald Trump has seemingly endless controversial moments, none have had as many lingering effects as his claims of election fraud during the 2020 election. In short, despite never being able to provide any real evidence confirming his claims, Donald Trump repeatedly claimed that it must have been widespread election fraud that helped his rival Joe Biden win the election.
Originally, nobody knew what Ivanka Trump thought of her father’s explosive claims. But in June 2022, The New York Times released documentary footage where Ivanka said “[Donald Trump should] continue to fight until every legal remedy is exhausted.” She also said, “I think a lot of Americans feel very, very disenfranchised right now, and really, question the sanctity of our elections, and that’s not right, it’s not acceptable.”
The release of that footage had an almost immediate effect. That same month, she had to record a video deposition related to the January 6th attack on the capitol that many think Donald Trump helped orchestrate. During that deposition, Ivanka firmly claimed she did not believe in the claims of election fraud.
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Defending Donald Trump against claims of sexual harassment
Even before Donald Trump was elected president in 2017, he was a constant source of controversy. Because of this, Ivanka became very accustomed to defending her father against all kinds of allegations. When allegations about sexual harassment were seemingly corroborated, however, Ivanka’s constant defense of her dad came back to haunt her.
As Cosmopolitan reports, Ivanka had previously given an interview to CBS News where she defended her dad against allegations of sexual harassment. “Look, I’m not in every interaction my father has,” she said. “But he’s not a groper. It’s not who he is.” She even went on to say her famous father is highly respectful of women and that none of the allegations about his sexual harassment had any real basis.
In 2016, Trump’s campaign for president was almost by leaked audio from Access Hollywood that revealed him seemingly describing a tendency to sexually harass women. “ “I’m automatically attracted to beautiful — I just start kissing them. It’s like a magnet. Just kiss. I don’t even wait.” This led to the most infamous line from the tape: “Grab them by the p****.” When this audio began to circulate, Ivanka refused to say anything about this bombshell revelation.
Using a personal email for White House business
One of the biggest controversies Hillary Clinton had while running for president in 2016 was that she stored government emails in her private server. This led to the widespread belief that she wasn’t taking her job very seriously, especially when it came to national security. Ironically, after her dad beat Hillary Clinton, Ivanka would face this same kind of scandal!
In November 2018, it came to light that Ivanka Trump was using her personal email account to facilitate official White House business. The White House eventually spoke up in her defense, and others pointed out that this wasn’t exactly the same as what Hillary Clinton did. To the average voter, however, it seemed like Ivanka Trump was guilty of Hillary Clinton’s main offense: not taking this important job nearly seriously enough.
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Constant controversies regarding her business
Because Donald Trump receives most of the attention, many people don’t realize that his children have inherited their father’s entrepreneurial instincts. For example, Ivanka Trump once followed in her father’s footsteps by creating her own business. Unfortunately, that business ended up being a nightmare for Ivanka, especially when it interfered with her political career (and vice versa).
For example, in November 2016, Ivanka and her dad appeared in a 60 Minutes interview. She wore one of her company’s $10,000 bracelets and later sent out a press release regarding how people could buy it. For many, this was reminiscent of her appearance at the 2016 Republican National Convention; afterward, Ivanka posted on X/Twitter about where people could buy the outfit (from her own company, of course) she was wearing.
Later, major retailer Nordstrom stopped carrying Ivanka’s products in February 2017, explaining that these items just weren’t selling. This caused Donald Trump (then the newly-inaugurated president) to tweet his support of her business, and Trump counselor Kellyanne Conway went on Fox News and encouraged viewers to buy Ivanka’s items. Meanwhile, the rest of the world wondered just how deeply nepotistic things would get before Ivanka could accept that her products just weren’t selling.