Ivanka Trump needs prayers, not scorn: Christian Schneider

When Ambrose Bierce defined politics in his Devil's Dictionary as "the conduct of public affairs for private advantage," he might have been foretelling the reign of President Trump.

Trump's critics are frequently quick to charge him with trying to use his office to enrich his name brand. On Monday, they began tweeting a picture of a billboard that featured Trump's daughter Ivanka modeling for Trump Tower in Manila. As it turns out, the photo was taken in 2012 and the billboard since removed.

But for many Trump opponents, the story was too good to pass up (or apparently check out), as it had the perfect recipe of complaints about his administration: a dash of nepotism, a pinch of self-enrichment and a cup of bribery (the murderous president of the Philippines was recently invited to the White House).

At the center of all these charges is Trump's daughter Ivanka, 35, who has curiously drawn the scorn of many of those who'd normally claim to welcome a level-headed woman in the White House. When Ivanka was jeered for standing up for her father's record on women's issues at a public roundtable discussion in Germany last week, her detractors pounced.

"On stage: the chancellor of Germany, the managing director of the IMF & an unqualified jewelry designer who is included because of nepotism," tweeted Brian Klaas, an observation that garnered more than 17,000 retweets. In March, Saturday Night Live mocked the idea that Ivanka could separate herself from her father's odious treatment of women, suggesting she endorse a new fragrance called Complicit. (Her critics once again pounced when she was asked about the ad and she said she didn't know "what it means to be complicit," as if she didn't know what the word meant.)

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These critiques, however, have moved us into a new era when people are now on the hook for their parents' behavior. It is no surprise that Ivanka likely loves her dad and wants to see him succeed. But the scorn she has received for refusing to condemn him publicly holds her to a standard that rarely has been applied to anyone else. (Especially males.)

And while it is certainly a novel arrangement to grant the first daughter an official office in the White House, there is nothing wrong with the president having a related confidante close by. More traditionally, presidents have used first ladies as confidential sounding boards for policy (Edith Wilson pretty much ran the country after Woodrow Wilson suffered a stroke). But if Melania Trump has no interest in the job, we should encourage Ivanka to fill that role.

Of course, nepotism laws are meant to prevent the president from hiring people who can't be fired, but in this case that seems like a bonus. Ivanka's public persona is one of being measured, level-headed and articulate; and if she is the one that can deliver commonsense advice to the president without fear of job recrimination, then more power to her. During the campaign, many people joked that Ivanka should be the president over her father. But that is no longer a joke. Seriously, the closer we can get to this scenario, the better.

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Contrast the particular enmity leveled at Ivanka Trump with the nauseating praise heaped on another first daughter. Despite speaking publicly in tweets arid of wisdom yet dripping with self-regard, Chelsea Clinton has parlayed her former first daughter status into an industry all its own. Glossy magazines are clamoring more for Clinton to start her own political career than Snoop Dogg is for weed to be legalized.

But of course, given her place in Democratic Party royalty, Chelsea Clinton will have to answer questions about her own father's conduct toward women right about the time she starts getting asked about the Franco-Prussian War.

Last month, word leaked that Ivanka Trump and her husband, Jared Kushner, had staged an intra-White House "velvet coup" against cantankerous chief strategist Steve Bannon. Sources indicated that Ivanka was troubled by the damage being done to the family name during her father's tumultuous first weeks in office.

Yet while this action looks self-serving, it helps us all. Trump could be president for over 1,350 more days. The more Ivanka can help him embarrass himself less, the greater America's standing will remain in the world. We should encourage her continued involvement — especially if she can sit down and explain to her father why the Civil War started.

Christian Schneider, member of USA TODAY's Board of Contributors, is a columnist for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, where this piece was first published. Follow him on Twitter @Schneider_CM

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