Ivanka Trump said her father’s proposal to help parents by providing childcare tax breaks and paid maternity leave is a reflection of her father’s attitude toward women, which she said is the same toward men.
“My father can be an equal opportunity offender. He will speak his mind and he treats women equal to how he treats men. He’s said plenty of rough things about men in the years. And I discourage him from doing that as I discourage him from doing it with women,” Ivanka Trump told Fox News host Megyn Kelly Tuesday night.
“But the fact that he doesn’t treat us differently or with kid gloves shows the fact that he recognizes we’re equipped to handle it and are able to do so. So, you know, in a certain way it’s – there’s no bias in his viewpoint. He views all people equally, men or women, it doesn’t matter and he treats them accordingly and I think we’ve seen that. He’s authentic and he’ll tell anyone, man or woman what he’s thinking and how he feels,” she added.
The 34-year-old married mother of three has previously said she learned her work ethic as an executive from her father. Trump has been working her entire adult life. Known for her initial work in the international modeling scene, she later jumped in to the family business and now serves as executive vice president of development and acquisitions of The Trump Organization. She is also the founder of IvankaTrump.com and has a retail line in department stores.
Despite her being well-positioned and not needing to financially support her family, Trump said she emphathizes with millions of working parents who struggle to cover the high costs of childcare for young ones.
“I’m deeply passionate about the work that I do and I’m incredibly grateful to be a mother and a wife open have such an unbelievable and supporting husband and have three incredible kids. I have a 5-month-old as well. And to be able to work in a professional capacity that’s very fulfilling to me – this is why this issue rings so true to me,” Trump said. “I know that I need the support that I have in order to be able to live my dream, which is to both be a mother and to be a professional woman. And so many parents across this country can’t make that choice.”
The GOP candidate’s daughter said her father’s campaign saw a chance to take an issue rival Hillary Clinton has failed to own and chose to provide a conservative solution, even if the policy is one Republicans have historically shied away from.
While the model-turned-businesswoman may appear to be a talking head for the campaign, Kelly jumped in to explain Trump has passed on superfluous and easier gigs to do the work she does.
“Not everybody knows this about you, I can’t reveal what it is, but I know for a fact that Ivanka has been offered many vanity projects, things that would allow her to sort of become more famous, more well-known and she says ‘no, no, no’ because she likes the job she’s doing. She’s a businesswoman at heart,” Kelly said.
