In a new interview, Hillary Clinton says that Ivanka Trump “should be judged and held accountable” for President Trump’s actions in office.
The first daughter, who was much-touted as a potential stabilizing, moderating force in her father’s administration, has largely failed on both counts, as President Trump’s administration has careened from one self-induced Twitter crisis to the next and flailed around in a blizzard of far-right-wing policy proposals, from barring transgender people from military service to ending DACA and deporting more than 800,000 children.
Asked whether Ivanka Trump was complicit in her father’s racist, sexist and homophobic actions, Clinton told Refinery29 that those surrounding Trump are “either on board with him or not. And if they’re not, they need to be speaking out or leaving, and if they remain silent or just give lip service to contrary points of view, then they are parts of his agenda and should be judged and held accountable for that.”
Ivanka Trump, who holds the title of senior adviser to President Trump, has made paid family leave her primary issue but has failed to move any legislation to or from her father’s desk. And her presence has not resulted in any female-friendly legislation that would redeem Trump from his reputation as a sexist, which was largely shaped by his behavior toward Clinton on the campaign trail and the infamous “Access Hollywood” tape.
On tour to promote her new book, “What Happened,” the candidate who warned the electorate against complacency during the 2016 campaign is continuing to do so. “When someone who is now our president in the White House gives voice to those kinds of degrading comments about women, who’s caught on tape saying those kinds of things, it gives a license to people to be more outspoken against women, against our progress, against our rights,” said Clinton in the Refinery29 interview. “And I think it’s really important for young women to recognize yes, we’ve made progress, but we have to all continue to stand up for ourselves, to stand up for each other, to stand up for the laws that we need, and to take on the the sexism that is so prevalent and which has been given a real boost by Trump.”
