Why is there suddenly so much media hostility toward Ivanka Trump?
Her visit to Germany has unleashed a wave of insults
and snarkiness that seems wildly out of proportion to what actually
happened on the trip.
The short answer, of course, is that she is a target of animosity that is really aimed at her father.
But it goes deeper than that. Some pundits seem to
blame her for not transforming the president’s policies, despite the
fact that he’s the one who got elected. Even more strangely, some blame
her for not speaking out against her dad.
During the campaign, when I happened to chat with her
a few times, Ivanka was getting pretty good press. And why not? She is a
poised and accomplished entrepreneur who handles herself with grace.
I get that it’s strange for Ivanka Trump to be a top
White House aide, and that some people can’t accept that. She originally
just wanted to be an informal adviser. But with critics raising
conflict questions about her business, Ivanka decided to relinquish that
role and take an office in the White House, working with her husband,
Jared Kushner, whose role in the administration keeps expanding.
(Neither is drawing a salary.)
I understand that her detractors say Ivanka owes her
business opportunities, and now her political opportunity, to her dad.
Fine. The president knew he would face nepotism charges when he made the
appointments. And she had to know she was putting herself in the line
of fire when she took an official title.
But compare this to the situation faced by every
first lady—and it’s an apt analogy because Ivanka’s high profile is
partially due to Melania’s low-key role as she remains, for now, in New
York.
Each first lady gets a government staff and an
international platform, simply by virtue of the fact that her husband
won high office. And every first lady is widely admired, although there
has been criticism of some (especially Hillary Clinton, who later sought
the top job) for wading too deeply into policy.
So is a first daughter really that different from a first lady?
When Ivanka, noting that the president has employed thousands of women,
drew some boos on the Berlin stage with Angela Merkel and Christine
Lagarde, that opened the floodgates.
Asked by NBC’s Hallie Jackson how she feels about
being called an “accomplice” to her father, Ivanka said she didn’t like
the word. “I think one of the things I value about my father as first a
businessman and now as a leader of the country, is that he creates ideas
and he likes to hear from people with divergent viewpoints. And that’s
not always true in politics.”
Still, we’re seeing headlines like this one in the
liberal Huffington Post: “Trump’s White House Family Affair Looks A Lot
Like The Most Corrupt Nations In The World.”
CNN commentator and former Ted Cruz aide Amanda
Carpenter said that “when I see Ivanka taking on this role, I really see
her becoming like Hillary Clinton in the worst ways. She’s sort of
becoming increasingly unlikable. She’s trying to get these jobs she’s
not qualified for based on family connections.”
MSNBC’s Chris Matthews compared the Trumps to “the
Romanovs,” saying the president envisions a royal family and “it is
un-American. It is untraditional. It’s somewhat weird.”
Matthews wrote a book about JFK, who of course named
his brother attorney general. Times have changed, but it’s not like
Ivanka is running a major department. When Joe Scarborough brought up
Bobby Kennedy and Mika Brzezinski asked whether he was comparing RFK to
Ivanka, he accused her of being “snotty” and taking a “cheap shot.”
The Guardian ran a snarky column saying that “Trump
invoked her own impressive achievements as an example of her father’s
commitment to equality. ..Trump is, indeed, a wonderful example of what
women can achieve with just perseverance, tenacity and millions of
inherited dollars.”
Some of this is so personal that it’s obviously not really about Ivanka.
She is clearly more moderate than her father and has
been an advocate for women’s rights, family leave and child care. Yet
her detractors had unrealistic expectations about her role and insist on
holding her accountable for his past “Access Hollywood”-type comments
about women.
Maybe a truly feminist approach would be to judge
Ivanka Trump on what she actually does in the White House, not on their
distaste for her dad.
Howard Kurtz is a Fox News analyst and the host of "MediaBuzz" (Sundays 11 a.m.). He is the author of five books and is based in Washington. Follow him at @HowardKurtz. Click here for more information on Howard Kurtz.