Ivanka Trump has attempted to nurture a public image as a backer of women’s empowerment. But, in remarks released by NBC News on Monday morning, she categorically denied the accounts of the nearly two dozen women who have accused her father of sexual misconduct spanning several decades.
In an interview conducted over the weekend, NBC’s Peter Alexander asked Trump about the allegations. The first daughter’s reaction was frosty: “I think it’s a pretty inappropriate question to ask a daughter if she believes the accusers of her father when he’s affirmatively stated that there’s no truth to it,” she said in a new interview that aired in full Monday. “I don’t think that’s a question you would ask many other daughters.”
Trump, of course, is not just any other daughter: She currently enjoys the vague title of assistant to the president, holds an interim security clearance, and has been one of the most visible female boosters of her father’s presidential campaign and administration. The interview was recorded in South Korea, ahead of the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics’ closing ceremony, where Trump was representing the United States.
“I believe my father, I know my father,” she continued. “So I think I have that right as a daughter to believe my father.”
Her remarks echo the White House’s repeated denials and defense of Trump based on little more than his own word, as allegations against the president resurfaced and gained fresh attention amid the recent #MeToo movement.
It’s not the first time the first daughter has bristled when questioned about her father’s record on women. In a Berlin appearance in March 2017, earlier in the administration, she was asked to square her empowerment message with her father’s public attitudes toward women.
“Do you believe your father’s [sexual misconduct] accusers?” –@PeterAlexander
“I think it’s a pretty inappropriate question to ask a daughter if she believes the accusers of her father when he’s affirmatively stated there’s no truth to it.” –@IvankaTrump pic.twitter.com/23AVPgcOdE
— TODAY (@TODAYshow) February 26, 2018
