For many Ivanka and her husband Jared Kushner have had a calming force. "At least there's somebody sane in the room" I've also felt while seeing posts shared to Facebook of Ivanka at a meeting with her father. I'm sure I'm not the only one who heard that she and Jared were the obstacle that stood in the way of her father ensuring rights for LGBT Americans were taken away. For a good number of Americans Ivanka is a symbol of moderation in the White House. Here's exactly what's wrong with that: she isn't. John Oliver explains on his show "Last Week Tonight" what many Americans have wrong about Ivanka and Jared and exactly why it is so troublesome that a sense of hope has been put into two who are most underqualified for it. He outlines why conservaties like Kushner and why people like Ivanka which ultimately ends in an assumption that their education, calm demeanors, and seemingly non party affiliation make them a beacon of hope for those who don't want to see the worst occur in the White House. "Not Steve Bannon" isn't a qualification for a White House position nor the numerous tasks that the President has put under Jared Kushner's control.
SNL spoofed Ivanka as "Complicit" and this begs a continued look into if she really has any influence over her father. Many seem to think that she's just like any woman and she needs to speak up for other women and urge her to practice feminism -intersectional if at all- but are they giving Ivanka way too much credit?Underqualified for hope is a statement I stand by. We cannot assume that she is our lifeline to someone sane. We cannot assume that she does not have harmful conservative views or that she has any idea what she's doing. Many seem to think as the SNL skit shows that Ivanka and Jared could do something if they wanted to but they don't. We don't know this for sure but what we do know is that they're all about business. How can we be sure that just like with her father Ivanka -and Jared- won't make that the bottom line?
It became apparent to me that Ivanka was a lot like her father in that her political affiliation was business first, foremost, and only. She advertised the Trump brand in her wedding invitations, I mean come on. So many things going on with the current administration go straight back to the family company which is no coincidence. So what really makes us think that Ivanka and Jared are the non conservative sane members of the White House? Is it their qualifications? Many see Jared as very qualified for the numerous tasks that the president has given him responsibility for because of his Harvard degree or his quiet demeanor but these are not qualifications for defeating ISIS and the opiod epidemic which are just some of the things Trump thinks that he's capable of. Meanwhile Ivanka is simply a business woman brought in who is reported to have had influence on the U.S. bombing of Syria. In John Oliver's segment on Ivanka and Jared he cited Ivanka's book Trump Card which stated that lying isn't what one should do but if someone believes something anyway you should not lead them away from that perspective. So what is there to make us believe that that isn't exactly what Ivanka is doing? It's all about marketing and business so are we really smart in assuming that she isn't capitalizing on the assumption many have that she has influence and can be beneficial? I don't think so.
Ivanka has often seemed like she's in the wrong place when it's come to discussing politics because she seems like the Democrat in a room of Republicans as many saw during the Republican Convention before the election when Ivanka referenced women, and family care as plans that are near and dear to her father's cause and later accused Hillary Clinton of not having plans for family care issues and defended her father's treatment of women and policy plans to an unamused audience in Berlin. I don't think Ivanka knows where she stands past "business first" and loving her father. Underqualified for hope is not reaching.
For the record I do realize that Ivanka and Jared's conflict with Steve Bannon on issues has been a good thing as it drove Bannon out of the White House. We still can't rely on Ivanka as the hope for not destroying the country. When it all comes down to it the conclusion that many reach is that they would much rather have Ivanka and Jared in the White House with under qualified, nepotistic positions than people like Steve Bannon or Alex Jones or even our current President. This is because of their calm and calculated demeanors, the seeming "moderate" view that just comes from not making their voices heard in reference to key issues that are noticeably progressive or conservative. Vague moderates wouldn't be a good thing even if they did have the calming influence we assume (i.e. "If you stand for nothing Burr, what'll you fall for?"), but the reality of the situation is that our country is in such a dismal state of leadership that nearly anyone who isn't screaming racial expletives, constantly getting into feuds, seemingly unhinged, forever in twitter wars, seemingly has no regard for other nations or non white Americans, is what we feel is our best bet.