By Owen Boss
Boston Herald
WWR Article Summary (tl;dr) While there was an immediate backlash to Ivanka Trump sitting in her father’s seat at the G-20 Summit, some people including German chancellor Angela Merkel came to her defense saying, “Ivanka Trump belonged to the American delegation, so that is in line with what other delegations do.”
Boston Herald
Ivanka Trump made a splash at the Group of 20 summit yesterday when she briefly sat in her father’s chair while listening to the head of the World Bank, who earlier in the day joined her in launching a fund aimed at helping women entrepreneurs, though the president’s critics blasted the move as inappropriate.
Shortly after headlining her own event at the Hamburg summit to join World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim in announcing the launch of the Women Entrepreneurs Finance Initiative — which the president committed $50 million to — Ivanka Trump was seen sitting in her father’s chair when her father had to leave the room.
The moment was seized upon by critics, many of whom took to Twitter to vent their frustrations.
But U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley, defended the move, telling CBS’ “Face the Nation”: “She’s got her certain issues that she focuses on, and when those things come up, then that’s where she is and that’s what she likes to focus on. I think she sees herself as part of a public servant family, and she doesn’t want to waste this time by not putting forward some effort to try and help the world.”
German Chancellor Angela Merkel also came to Ivanka Trump’s defense.
“Ivanka Trump belonged to the American delegation, so that is in line with what other delegations do,” she said.
“And it is known that she works at the White House and carries responsibility for certain initiatives.”
At the Women Entrepreneurs Finance Initiative event, Kim said the fund had raised more than $325 million so far for projects and programs to support women and women-led businesses by improving access to capital and markets, providing technical assistance, training and mentoring, and pushing public policy. The fund grew out of conversations between Ivanka Trump and Kim early in Trump’s administration.
Republican strategist Ford O’Connell hailed Ivanka Trump’s appearance as a reminder that “she’s one of President Trump’s best assets in the White House.”
“She’s making her presence felt on the world’s stage,” O’Connell said. “She’s clearly a vital part of his staff — people need to give it a rest.”
O’Connell said the immediate backlash to Ivanka Trump sitting in her father’s seat highlighted how “everything the Trumps do is going to be criticized.”
Former New Hampshire House Speaker Gene Chandler also said he was pleased to see Ivanka Trump wasn’t shying away from her role as senior adviser.
“Obviously, she’s a very intelligent, successful businesswoman who carries a lot of weight with the president, as she should, and I think this bodes well for women in the United States, and it should be applauded,” Chandler said, adding that had it been Hillary Clinton giving up her seat to her daughter, Chelsea, “these same people would have stood up and applauded and said it was the greatest thing ever.”
“It’s unfortunately getting kind of ridiculous,” Chandler said of the way the media covers the Trump administration. “No matter what he does he’s criticized.”
Democratic strategist Scott Ferson said those seizing on Ivanka’s role at the summit should focus their efforts other news coming out of the meeting.
“This is where I think our side, Democrats, are sort of incapable of having boundaries around what is outrageous and what isn’t,” Ferson said. “I’d find that ridiculous if she walked up to the table and made Angela Merkel leave to sit down. That would be a story.”
Brian Dowling and Herald wire services contributed to this report.
