Mediaboss Marketing

Ivanka Trumps best trick is her disappearing move. When the White House makes an announcement thats bad for her personal brand, like withdrawing the U.S. from the Paris Climate Agreement, Ivanka is somehow nowhere to be found. Its a Friday night and shes observing Shabbat, or, like during the first disastrous Affordable Care Act repeal-and-replace attempt, shes out of town with her kids on a spring break vacation. And on Thursday, Ivanka, who had been working behind the scenes to convince President Trump not to put his fingers in his ears and sing la-la-la while the environmental dystopias of our summer reading list build momentum around us, celebrated the holiday Shavuot with her husband and kids as her father tuned up the jazz band to play a jaunty funeral tunefor the planet.

That Donald Trump didnt make Ivanka stand behind him in the Rose Garden with a poised smile on her face while he took a whizz all over her alleged values is perhaps the most compelling evidence that the president is capable of caring for someone other than himself. But if liberals and progressives take one thing away from Ivankas massive failure to influence the presidents understanding of climate change, its that if daddys love and esteem for his favorite child has such hard limits, the rest of us are definitely screwed.

This clumsy overestimation of her own influence after Trump called Kimberly Guilfoyle to get her take on the Paris agreement, he probablyanonymously submitted a photo of a corgi rowing through floodwaters to We Rate Dogs (verdict: h*ckin scary, 0/10 would not pull out) hasnt put a damper on Ivankas champagne popsicle summer just yet, though. Politico reports that while the rest of the world reels from Trumpsstunningly ignorant display of chest-thumping, Ivanka and Jared remain sanguine, all things considered.

Ivanka Trump and her husband, Jared Kushner, have taken the defeat in stride, according to two people familiar with their thinking on the issue. Their view of their roles in the White House is that theyre playing the long game, helping the president to be successful. And they dont tally their own influence day by day or bill by bill.

(Someone thinks theyre getting that sea wall around Mar-a-Lago!)

Whats instructive here is what the long game actually means for Ivanka and Jared, and it has nothing to with you, me, or anyones children other than their own kin. What part of helping Donald Trump be successful translates into upholding Americas end of an international agreement to reduce carbon emissions? Or for that matter, making sure Americans have access to affordable health care, and women have access to birth control and abortions, and women and minorities receive equal pay for equal work, and LGBT people have civil rights?

Might it now be painfully obvious that the presidents barometer for success has nothing to do with what a person who has no intention of ever voting for him thinks about him, not even for one second?

In the days leading up to and the aftermath of Donald Trumps victorywe heard a lot about the Ivanka Voter the suburban women who found the presidential candidate distasteful but admired his daughter first profiled by Anne Helen Petersen in BuzzFeed.In the sober light of June 2017, it looks more and more like those Ivanka Votersused her as a shield just like her father did, and that Donald was their one true Trump love. Its likely that more Democrats than Republicans held high hopesfor an allegedly smart and classy and compassionate force to set up shop in the White House, like strategist Rebecca Katz, whotold Politico,With Ivanka, we thought at least well always have Paris. But that turned out to be fiction, too.

Im a big fan of Ilana Glazer and I applaud her using her platform to call attention to this issue, but Please tell your dad is not a plan of action to fight climate science denial and harmful isolationism, let alone the nasty mix of ego and petulance that reportedly helped Trump double down on his resolve here. Butwhen it comes to Ivanka wishcasting, Katz and Glazerwere hardly alone out there. Hate to say I told you so to the very well-meaning people I know who clung toan Ivanka the Stealth-Liberal Savior narrative, but two months ago I pointed out the disastrous implications of waiting around for Ivanka and Jaredto inject theirso-called moderating influence into the bottomless breadsticks basket of the apocalypse that is her fathers administration:

. . . liberals and progressives shouldnt make the mistake of mistaking the Democrats for actual Democrats Ivankaisnt in the White House to play Daddy Whisperer on behalf of anyone but herself.Shesthere to shore up herown power, and Jareds, in whatever future form itwill take.

Heres a scary long game for Ivanka and Jared and their designer knock-off vision of Camelot that just could stretchpast the next four years and the four years after that: If Jared could get Pussy-Grabbin Donald elected, what could he do with Poised, Polished, Parental Leave-Passing Ivanka?

Ivanka emergedfrom her Shavuot observance with no remark about theParis agreement, but plenty of empty platitudes about Pride month.

The scathing replies show a near-universal level of personal loathing and frustrationlevied atIvanka that I had yet to see, which means maybe the gloves are finally off when it comes to the First Lady Daughter. Ivanka and Jared will reportedly evaluate every six months whether they willstay in Washington and or return to New York to keep exploiting funding loopholesto build luxury buildings, dragging Section 8 tenants to courtand plundering Cuban culturefor jewelry designsas the president considers rolling back Obamas progress on Cuba-U.S. relations, which no amount of paste bangles and necklaces will be able to stop. Let us hope that Ivanka does what she does best and disappears, this time back to Manhattan.With those two gone,there will be no moresilly false hopes to distract from the three and a half years of work ahead.

Read this article:
The myth of Ivanka's influence: Liberals built her up as much as Ivanka voters did - Salon