Ivanka Trump, daughter of United States presidential hopeful Donald, cut short an interview after being asked about some of her dad’s past comments on childcare and maternity leave.
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Extolling its benefits, she had claimed: “For same-sex couples as well, there’s tremendous benefit here to enabling the mother to recover after childbirth”.
The policy, which Ivanka, 34, unveiled alongside the Republican presidential nominee in Pennsylvania on Tuesday, would give new moms six weeks of paid maternity leave, and also makes child care expenses tax-deductible for families that earn less than $50,000 annually.
Ivanka said the plan would impact same-sex marriages if the couple had legal married status under tax code, but ruffled when pressed about unions of two men. Democrats have been pushing to make universal pre-K a thing in recent years and Democrat Hillary Clinton has made it a key part of her platform. Trump announced his program this week and the reviews suggest that it (a) is geared mostly toward people who are at the upper end of the economic spectrum, (b) doesn’t do all that much for new dads, and (c) has a funding mechanism that’s (surprise!) unrealistic. It’s surprising to see this policy from him today.
“There’s plenty of time for you to editorialize around this, but I think he put forth a really incredible plan that has pushed the boundaries of what anyone else is talking about”, said Trump.
The interviewer then asked what changed since Donald Trump made his 2004 comment that pregnancy is an “inconvenience for a business”.
The interview began civilly enough, with Gupta pressing Trump on how the proposal might apply to same-sex couples. She went on to explain that the Trumps are primarily concerned with mothers because they have to physically recover from childbirth. “So I should not say Ivanka, you’re fired, right?”
After answering one more question about how her father will pay for some of his expensive policy proposals, Ivanka cut the interview short.
This is a giant leap from where we are today, which is sadly, nothing. [Fact check: The federal government now mandates 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected family leave per year.] Both sides of the aisle have been unable to agree on this issue, so I think this takes huge advancement and obviously, for same-sex couples as well, there’s tremendous benefit here to enabling the mother to recover after childbirth.
“I’m going to jump off, I have to run”, Trump said.
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Citing a candidate’s previous statement on the issue under discussion is, again, pretty basic and well within interview bounds. She got super testy when a reporter asked her why the plan doesn’t include gay dads, so keep reading for her shocking response.
