It appears that US President Donald Trump has just taken his nepotistic tendencies to a new level. On 29 March, The New York Times revealed that Trump’s daughter Ivanka will become a federal employee. Her title will be “Assistant to the President”. And she’ll become the first presidential child in modern history to do official work in the White House.
This comes just days after reports that a powerful new White House office – headed by Ivanka’s husband Jared Kushner – will ‘harvest ideas from the business world’.
It's official: Ivanka Trump has an actual job in the federal government pic.twitter.com/CTFwkNL16O
— NowThis Impact (@nowthisimpact) March 30, 2017
The response
Ivanka will apparently not receive any money for her new role. But for many commentators, Ivanka’s official involvement in the Trump Administration is simply another example of nepotism:
Two of the top official advisors to the president are in his family. Brazen nepotism that would make despots blush. https://t.co/5rrpST7Yt0
— Brian Klaas (@brianklaas) March 29, 2017
‘This is pure and simple nepotism’: The View torches Ivanka Trump’s formal White House position https://t.co/54rRYiLape pic.twitter.com/NPIwFyjHwT
— Raw Story (@RawStory) March 30, 2017
Obama White House ethics lawyer: Appointment of Ivanka is nepotism https://t.co/go7boh0p99 pic.twitter.com/yZ3b0MS2OW
— The Hill (@thehill) March 30, 2017
Could you imagine Republicans vitriol if it was Chelsea Clinton taking an office next to the oval rather than Ivanka Trump #ThursdayThoughts
— 💉♻️🇺🇸 Christopher Zullo (@ChrisJZullo) March 30, 2017
https://twitter.com/AKMMitchell/status/847312215363379202
Some even suggested the appointments made the US look like a monarchy:
The White House even more strongly resembles a dynastic royal court as Ivanka joins Jared as a formal WH official https://t.co/qFnuU6h0EJ
— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) March 29, 2017
CNN Panel: Ivanka Trump's Appointment Makes Us Look Like a Monarchy. WATCH Fiery Full Debate: https://t.co/7N4uwybNdK… #ThursdayThoughts pic.twitter.com/LnJx5EqGoJ
— CitizenSlant (@CitizenSlant) March 30, 2017
And others just joked nervously:
https://twitter.com/TheTweetwit/status/847254763439742977
Ivanka Trump WH job is a victory for every millionaire-at-birth handbag designer who ever dreamed of being her father's unpaid work-wife.
— John Fugelsang (@JohnFugelsang) March 30, 2017
The Justice Department wrote a memo in January regarding federal anti-nepotism laws, in which it concluded that the rules don’t apply to the White House.
But to many Americans, this just looks bad.
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Featured image via Wikimedia Commons and Michael Vadon/Flickr
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