Donald Trump is known for his aggressive and inappropriate use of social media, his bombastic rhetoric and his paper-thin skin. Do something to cross him and he has no problem — even as President — throwing his full weight at you. The free press becomes the “enemy of the American people,” Nordstrom is “Terrible!” And we won’t even get into the things he’s said about women.
Yet there’s one woman in Donald’s life who seems to be immune from his ever-intensifying tornado of hot air. Daughter Ivanka is, by comparison, a master class in poise. But while her ever-so-tasteful persona may seem at first like evidence that the apple does indeed fall far from the tree after all, there’s another way of interpreting Ivanka’s image, and it all has to do with branding.
And that’s when things start to get a lot more blurry.
A new Buzzfeed analysis by Anne Helen Peterson looks closer at Ivanka’s actions over the last month of her father’s administration:
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Ivanka has maintained her silence — seen, via her social media, but not heard. When Nordstrom dropped her clothing brand on February 2, she posted a video of her daughter, Arabella, singing a song for Chinese New Year. When her father lashed out on Twitter about her “unfair” treatment by Nordstrom, instead of responding to the press, she posted a photo of herself “taking a call in the White House” with her “personal assistant,” aka her infant son, Theodore. After [Kellyanne] Conway encouraged audiences to “buy Ivanka’s stuff,” her social media accounts remained silent for most of the day — and then posted a video of Ernst & Young CEO Mark Weinberger praising her for making women in the workplace “a top issue.”
In normal times, Ivanka’s meticulous polish might seem classy (with a ‘c,’ not a ‘k’) if not altogether presidential. But these are not normal times. It’s the contrast between Ivanka’s demeanor and her father’s destruction of the same ideals she would have us believe she stands for — to always take the high road, to stay on message even if it means growing a thicker skin — that ultimately neutralize her brand.
And we’re not just talking about her clothing and accessories line. If there’s one thing she’s picked up from Dad, it’s “always be branding.”
Ivanka’s force field is composed of her innocuous image, her carefully cultivated figure, her children, and her silence. Together, they compose a particularly 21st-century propaganda aesthetic — one that attempts to blind us to the discrimination and destruction committed by her father and performed in the name of rebuilding America. That aesthetic, of course, also excuses Ivanka: Her social media is her plausible deniability, constructed with the same sort of precision as a criminal crafting an alibi. The question remains: Will historians of the future look to Ivanka’s digital footprint and excuse her…or look to her willful blindness and condemn her?
Which do you think it will be?
Mo Bro
I see we’re yet again attacking Trump’s family.
What liberals don’t seem to understand is that you are the ones who got Donald Trump elected. You created him with your intolerance and hubris. Your constant whining created a Golem. You blamed white people. You blamed men. Blamed Christians. Speech codes, political correctness, all of it. You demanded acceptance while not entertaining other points of view, and the response was Donald em-effing Trump.
His presidency is your creation.
Own it.
DMRX
And here comes Mo Bro, stepping out of his log cabin, claiming an attack where there was no such thing.
1EqualityUSA
How many chemically-induced thought-pellets were obtained, hitting the contrarian rat-bar this time, Tero Bro? When one uses “you/your” eight times in one comment, a punching bag may be appropriate.
Darryl
You use words like “intolerance”, “hubris” and “whining”. All of these descriptives are appropriately assigned to Trump and his followers, such as you. The ‘other points of view’ that you are so wanting to shove under our noses is exactly what we are and need to fight. You are not in a position to start throwing around the criticism and malevolent speech that you are so handy with at your opponents and anyone who thinks independently and disagrees with you and your ilk. Your words are egregious and discombobulated. Don’t ever think that those you defend are without blame and huge responsibility for the current mess and division in the USA and throughout the world, all around your man, Trump. You don’t get to make such judgments, and you certainly aren’t qualified! You post a comment full of drivel, don’t expect to be honoured for it!
Celtic
No, No Bro of Mine, I / we did NOT create this presidency. Whining? You, poor pooty boy, are the whiner here. Blamed men? REALLY/ Talking out of your lower orifice again, I see. Blamed Christians? Again, REALLY? Only the brainwashed evangelicals like(d) him, and not even a whole lot of them. In fact, only 25% of the entire voting populace voted for the Orange-Haired Fuhrer. 42% of the voting public stayed home. I get it that you fall on your knees for Donald. You likely enjoying taking it up the booty. Won’t hurt, though. Donny Small Hands is said to have a very small weenie. I think you need to take a VERY cold shower and lay off the meth. Your rant is a sure sign you are a sociopath.
glenn_queen
100 % correct. The far left pushes people who have zero tolerance for drama and bs farther to the right every single day. I voted for Trump once and I’ll gladly do it again. As for Ivanka, her mother raised her to be a lady. I’m sure that’s a foreign concept for snowflakes (raising your children with manners, respect, common sense and selflessness) mores the pity, but responsible people still do that.
BigWill
Dear Fake Biracial Bisexual…I mean Mo: You’re a regular ring-tail tooter, you little mouse pie!
orjeffy
No, we didn’t.
norodeocowboy
And not a one of them get it, preferring to attempt to shout you down, rather than entertain for a moment the possibility that you might have a point. Silly Progressives, with their bumper stickers for brains. God, I miss the old Left, where even the most vicious of liars could at least pretend to deal with the world as it actually is.
o.codone
Of course liberals got Trump elected, and all the antics they’re now engaging in guarantees that he’ll be elected again. Progressives just don’t get it that they’ve pushed too far and this is the backlash. When a presidential candidate stands on the dais, endorsing, if not advocating the hideous practice of partial birth abortion, the party’s gone too far. The party exempts itself from consequences over Behghazi, Fast and Furious, and Bill Clinton meets on the tarmac with the AG. Yeah guys, you went too far and this is the outcome. Own it. Thank you very much by the way.
o.codone
Dear Progressives: We couldn’t have done it without you.
davidkohl
We were getting on so well Mo Bro – now we are on opposite sides again. You don’t have to be that clever to see behind her carefully cultivated persona. She knows very well that at some point the White House cache will be gone and she has to rely on her branding alone. We know that gay boycotts can be very effective and I am sure she would wish to avoid that if she can. Not condemning discrimination on any level is the same as condoning it however. It shows a lack of principles.
As for your blaming ‘liberals’ for The Odious Man – we can accept freedom of speech and expression but we do not have to ‘tolerate’ racism, homophobia and sexism. I remind you again that Trump LOST the vote by 3 million. The repulsive man was created by the extreme right wing fundamentalist christian bigots – the less extreme Republicans failed to stop him. He, his supporters, his appointees and anyone who does not condemn his vile rhetoric are fair game for us ‘liberals’.
Ogier
One has to have lived a long life to have seen Jim Crow: signs in buses directing
“colored” patrons to sit in the back, the “niga” balcony above the regular balcony reserved for whites with entrance in the ally behind the theater, blacks not allowed to eat in the lunch counter where they had purchased a hamburger but directed to the ally behind the shop. And on and on. And don’t mentioned queers who were invisible. Maybe political correctness isn’t such a bad thing after all.
norodeocowboy
Meet the New, Much “Improved” McCarthyism. It comes with the singular difference that there really WERE Communist traitors who had wormed their way into our American institutions. Contrast that to today, when a lifelong liberal is now so far beyond the pale that he’s falsely branded a modern Klan-boy. You know, guys, some of you may have a soft spot for the silliest sort of Queens, but carrying on as though it were the Victorian Age, chewing up the scenery with your attacks of the Vapors is frankly pathetic.
CaliKyle
Her face has a mask-like quality that makes her seem unnatural: the whittled nose, augmented chin, cheekbones and lips, topped off by a boatload of botox. Throw in the boob job and bleach and the result is pure manufactured Stepford. When one’s appearance is as plasticine as Ivanka’s its hard to imagine theres anything genuine about her.
norodeocowboy
They don’t need any of that, certainly not the Botox. That’s what elite finishing schools teach. In that regard, she’s no different from Paris Hilton and Taylor Swift and Sigourney Weaver, except that Sigourney took years of acting lessons so as to learn how to fake being “real folks”. Give the Donald credit for one thing: when they tried to cram that crap down HIS throat, he rebelled enough to get himself sent to military school.
norodeocowboy
Odd, too, that I don’t recall any of you unloading on Pelosi with any of the same criticisms. God knows, she’s the same person, only four decades older and a bit bubble-brained to boot.
ErikO
No there’s not anything ‘sinister’ about her poise, clothing, etc.
Jack Meoff
There may not be anything sinister about her poise but it is definitely a contrived and calculated mask
DCguy
A woman who was being courted by Ivanka to work as an executive at her brand told Trump she was pregnant and asked about the maternity leave policy. Ivanka’s response…”I was back at work in a week”.
So yes, all this crap in the media about her being a moderating influence on her father are B.S. She is her fathers daughter. The ONLY time you hear differently is when her staff puts out a fake leak about her being a moderate to try to mitigate damage after a store drops her product line.
wmca_goodguys
“The free press…”, oh, really? What “press” is Queerty referring to? The wretched, lying, Democrat-propagandist media such as the New York Times, Washington Post, ABC, CNN, MSNBC, NPR et al?
1EqualityUSA
Now the GOP is attempting to curb protests. Oppressors.
davidkohl
Oh dear! wmca_goodguys is upset – a fake upset of course – and I question whether his less than eloquent description of the ‘Democratic-propagandist media’ is (a) accurate and/or (b) English. I notice that the ‘lying’ media does not include that bastion of fairness and champion of equality FOX NEWS.
The fact that Ms. Trump chooses to be referred to ‘Ivanka Trump’ indicates that she is well aware of the power of branding – and has nothing to do with a feminist view of taking the husbands surname. I do not criticise her for that – that’s business – and many decent people would do the same. The point of the article raised was something much more unacceptable and underhand. Is the lady hiding her real views on important issues like equality in an effort to protect her business interests? I don’t know for sure – but when people fail to stand up for the oppressed and positively applaud hate speech it might indicate their true position.
glenn_queen
Bravo.
Mo Bro
Hit the nail on the head there, goodguy.
DCguy
You can always tell the typical troll. They can’t respond to the actual topic, so come on rabling and blurting out attacks or ANYTHING to change the topic. Sorry cupcake, this post isn’t about your press conspiracies, it’s about the anti-woman, anti-worker, andti-lgbt stepform daughter named Ivanka.
Ian Caulfield
This is an absolute rubbish story. It is so far from journalism as to be up there with ‘Fake news’.
glenn_queen
Well said Ian.
davidkohl
It is not ‘fake news’ as it is not purporting to tell us something that will be regarded as ‘news’ in the sense that we all understand it – it’s not reporting something she said or did or said, or an event she attended. The article asks questions – and given her ‘position’ we are entitled to ask those questions. She claims to be a moderating force on the vile father – just how true is that? What are her own true views? Those are legitimate questions and the trump lackeys have to get used to this – it’s called ‘democracy’. ‘Fake news’ is when The Odious Man in the White House repeatedly claimed that President Obama was not an American citizen or, more recently, that President Obama is behind the protests against the vile policies being followed by this illegitimate ‘administration’. On both counts he is deliberately lying.
DCguy
Oh look, one troll screnname complimenting his OTHER troll screename. Hey Ian and Glen, two quick hints, one…try to not put up the complimentary reply 10 seconds after the first comment goes up. Secondly, try to about using anti-lgbt slurs in your name. It’s kind of a giveaway.
Other than that, your trolling was not bad, now go cash your Putin Check!
norodeocowboy
Wow, really, DCguy? So, in YOUR opinion, it’s now a “slur” to call YOURSELF a “Queen”? Who made you the Gay Word Police?
william_mcrae
By no means am I a fan of her father or his administration (FAR from it) but frankly Ivanka hasn’t said or done anything towards the LGBT community that warrants scrutiny.
Unlike her father, she has maintained a sense of class and dignity – something she can hopefully impart onto her dad – though it’s unlikely he’ll heed the message.
Until she does something of a questionable/dubious nature, we should focus attention of the political side of things and keep the personal lives of the first family in the background where it should be,
Trump’s family is not the issue (at the moment). He and his cohorts are.
Mo Bro
Your point is spot-on.
Whether one approves of the sitting POTUS or not, their families are off-limits.
1EqualityUSA
Families uninvolved in politics that is.
DCguy
Except for the fact that she has an office in the White House and hasn’t divested from her business, that her father has attacked American businesses employing more than 100,000 people for not carrying her line, for the fact that she isn’t a govt. employee but is sitting in on official meetings with ambassadors as if she is a rep of the govt. but not one who has gone through the officially mandated screenings……
davidkohl
Sorry william-macrae I disagree. She has put herself in the spotlight by claiming to have a ‘moderating’ influence on her repulsive father. She needs the spotlight in order to make money for her business – thats why she made that claim. The Odious Man recognises the power of branding and had the incompetent ‘adviser’ do some advertising for his daughter.
The point at which I agree with you is on the underage son. He should not be a target – yet. But as I keep saying – we are far too soft on these people – they don’t take any prisoners with their lies and distortions. We should repay them but with accuracy and integrity. All of the adults in that family are legitimate targets – they all stood by and applauded the hate speeches of The Odious Man – including the daughter.
william_mcrae
@davidkohl – I have yet to hear anything from Ivanka Trump that would make me think she is behaving in a manner that is rude and offensive. Unfortunately I can’t say the same for her father.
Until that happens, I’m not going to weigh in and start adopting a negative stance towards her. I’d rather keep the focus on Trump and his cohorts because they are the focal point we all should be turning our attention towards.
So far Ivanka has played it cool and calm and maintained her poise. As I said earlier, her father could certainly take some cues from her – big time.
william_mcrae
@DCguy – Given the nature of her business and what her exact role is in her father’s administration is, is a murky area to say the least. Moreover, it’s speculation on how much (if any) real influence she has regarding meetings, agenda and policy setting.
However given the fact that everyone else in Trump’s entourage is either a liar (Spicer, Conway, Sessions etc) or seeking to push a radical conservative agenda (Bannon, Pence, Devos), Ivanka and her husband appear to be the ones that have a measure of sanity and level headedness that Trump’s inner circle desperately lacks at this moment.
Apparently they played a key role behind the scenes in getting a draft executive order relating to overtuning LGBT rights in the workplace squashed and assuming that’s true, they win brownie points in my book.
Again until she says or does something offensive or outright wrong, I will give her the benefit of the doubt. I don’t believe in wasting anger and/or suspicion on her at this particular period of time. I’d much rather save that for her father and his cronies.
DCguy
@william_mcrae
You said that
Apparently she and her husband played a key role behind the scenes in getting a draft executive order relating to overtuning LGBT rights in the workplace squashed and assuming that’s true, they win brownie points in my book.
Not true, what happened was Nordstrom and other stores announced they were dumping her line and the day after there was a “leak” that made the claim you referenced. Watch, every time another major store like Belk, Norstrom or TJ MAx dumps her line there is a phony “leak” claiming without proof that she did something good.
william_mcrae
@DCguy – As I said earlier “assuming”. So let’s keep the focus on Trump and his cohorts. Until Ivanka does something wrong I am willing to give her a pass – for now.
1EqualityUSA
Indivisible is giving Jason Chaffetz the blues. Lovely footage, seeing him with schwing-butt, exiting stage right (of course), enveloped in maroon, velvet curtains and then, poof, gone. Thanks, Indivisible-Utah. ODS and his spawn will not control the masses. Chaffetz can attest to this. The only thing that would have made the clip more entertaining is if they had torches and pitchforks. Run this clown out of a job, Utah! Senator Mike Lee voted against helping Flint. His vote was the deciding one. Vote these wads out, Utah.
trusgold
I think Ivanka will prove to be an ally of gays. Chelsea is close with her.