When Donald Trump showed up to huddle with America's top tech executives on Wednesday, his three adult children flanked him. The presence of Ivanka, Don Jr., and Eric Trump at the meeting sparked outcry as well as finger-pointing from critics about the threat of nepotism: "I looked at this seating map published by Quartz and notice that there are 25 people in attendance. This is a group of our most-senior technology leaders and our new government-elect," Mark Suster wrote for Both Sides of the Table. "Twenty-five people. Four of them — FOUR — are the president-elect's children. That is 16 percent of everybody in the room ... This is the definition of nepotism that we would condemn from the least democratic nations in the world."
But Kellyanne Conway defended the inclusion of the young Trumps on Morning Joe on Thursday, explaining that, legally speaking, they could even be included in the White House. "The anti-nepotism law apparently has an exception if you want to work in the West Wing because the president is able to appoint his own staff," Conway said. "Of course, this came about to stop maybe family members from serving on the Cabinet, but the president does have discretion to choose a staff of his liking."
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