First Daughter Ivanka Trump briefly sat in for her father at the G-20 Summit last Saturday and liberal, feminist outlets like Jezebel are disparaging her for it. What many outlets fail to mention is that Ivanka was sitting in on a workshop focused on a topic she knows well: female entrepreneurship.
The discussion specifically revolved around the recent $50 million contribution made by the U.S. government towards the World Bank-created fund for female entrepreneurs — a project Ivanka had a direct hand in creating.
Jezebel referred to this donation as “trivial,” and attempted to dismiss Trump’s efforts to bolster women in business while also referring to a piece by CNN, which specifically notes that Ivanka was the one who “spearheaded” the $50 million donation to the World Bank.
What is perhaps most interesting about the Jezebel article is that it also quotes German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who, based on her response, seemed to interpret Ivanka’s limited participation as fairly normal.
Merkel explained that it is not uncommon for members of political delegations to sit in for world leaders during meetings such as the G-20 summit. She even clarified that the delegation’s choosing to have Ivanka sit in her father’s stead was “something that other delegations also do.”
Instead of Jezebel understanding that this is a big-to-do over nothing, they used Merkel’s response as an excuse to rage over Ivanka’s involvement in the Trump administration as a whole.
Despite all the support for Ivanka’s normal display of diplomatic behavior, liberals blasted Ivanka for being unqualified to attend such an important talk.
Ivanka Trump is not qualified because she is “a woman previously best known for stealing other people’s shoe designs,” Jezebel snidely remarked. An odd comment from a publication that bills itself as feminist.
Former World Bank official Lawrence Summers, who worked for the Obama Administration, also griped about Ivanka’s participation. Summers groused that Ivanka’s presence at the conference was “insulting.”
However, Summers was quite insulting himself, calling Ivanka “an adult child” of President Trump. This erases Ivanka’s accomplishments as a businesswoman, and ignores the political work she has already done on the campaign trail and since her father took office. Individuals like Summers are attempting to demean Ivanka Trump by portraying her as what Jezebel calls a “socialite,” while ignoring the reality that she is a successful adult, independent of her father.
What is most frustrating about the left’s reaction to Ivanka’s presence at the G-20 Summit is the fact that they are betraying their own ideals by mocking her. Feminists argue that it is unfair to judge women based on their looks, and that successful women deserve support rather than cynicism and degradation. Yet Jezebel, and a number of other liberal media outlets, have chosen to tear Ivanka apart because her father is a powerful conservative. Unfortunately, the mainstream press has made a habit of denigrating conservative women, from Sarah Palin to Michelle Bachmann to Phyllis Schlafly.
Ivanka Trump is being hounded by the press, not because she did anything wrong, but because she is a powerful, intelligent woman who is a member of a conservative political administration — and that is a Trump double standard.
