Samantha Bee explains why Ivanka Trump is not the progressive Trump whisperer liberals are pining for

Samantha Bee profiles Ivanka Trump
(Image credit: Full Frontal/YouTube)

To celebrate Women's History Month (kind of), Samantha Bee turned the spotlight on the newest White House hire: Ivanka Trump, President Trump's older daughter. "Ivanka's official title is assistant to the president. Wishful thinkers are hoping that's code for 'your secret progressive buddy,'" Bee said on Wednesday's Full Frontal. Her moderating influence was supposed to include pushing Trump to fight climate change. Fat chance, Bee said. "She's not going to convince her dad climate change isn't a Chinese hoax. Anyone with a dad knows they have invincible old man opinion strength. I can't change my dad's opinions on chemtrails for more than eight hours."

That's not to say the first daughter hasn't done any moderating. She might have convinced Trump not to scrap some LGBT protections, Bee said, but "at most, Ivanka has stopped one out of 24 appalling executive orders. That's only one more than Tiffany has stopped!" This sorry track record hasn't stopped Democrats from pinning their hopes on Ivanka, or even writing her wistful notes. "Stop it, Democrats!" Bee said. "She's not a Wailing Wall for you to desperately stuff your prayer notes into. Look, I get it: People are comforted by the thought of a progressive feminist in the White House. To which I say: If you wanted that, you should have voted for it."

Policy-wise, Ivanka is best known for pushing a child-care plan — that's really great for wealthy women. But "to be fair, Ivanka wasn't hired for her policy expertise," Bee said. According to the president's former communications director, Trump gave his daughter a White House job because she is a successful businesswoman. Bee didn't dispute that; instead she looked at one deal in particular that Ivanaka negotiated — a Trump Tower in Azerbaijan — and she turned to New Yorker writer Adam Davidson to explain why that deal is so shady and terrorist-y.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

"Ivanka's new job is the same as her old job: Pushing her dad's dodgy agenda with a smile," Bee concluded, "which she was doing way back when Kellyanne was still dreamily pretending to lie to Jake Tapper in her bedroom mirror. I agree: Ivanka is the nicest, smartest, best-smelling Trump. But mainly, she's the loyal Trump." Watch below — but be warned, there is some decidedly NSFW language sprinkled throughout. Peter Weber

Continue reading for free

We hope you're enjoying The Week's refreshingly open-minded journalism.

Subscribed to The Week? Register your account with the same email as your subscription.

Peter Weber

Peter Weber is a senior editor at TheWeek.com, and has handled the editorial night shift since the website launched in 2008. A graduate of Northwestern University, Peter has worked at Facts on File and The New York Times Magazine. He speaks Spanish and Italian and plays bass and rhythm cello in an Austin rock band. Follow him on Twitter.