This year’s G20 summit of world leaders may be over, but its repercussions are still being felt — including via a now viral video of presidential adviser Ivanka Trump appearing to embarrass herself big time while there. In the footage, which the French presidential administration posted to their Instagram account among numerous other clips, Ivanka can be seen seemingly trying to inject herself into an ongoing conversation including French President Emmanuel Macron, UK Prime Minister Theresa May, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, and International Monetary Fund (IMF) chief Christine Lagarde. After Ivanka interjects, Lagarde in particular looks perturbed, and the footage falls on the face of a possibly also annoyed Macron just for a moment.
Check it out:
Ivanka Trump appears to be trying to get involved in a talk among Macron, May, Trudeau and Lagarde (IMF head).
The video is released by French Presidential palace. pic.twitter.com/TJ0LULCzyQ— Parham Ghobadi (@ParhamGhobadi) June 29, 2019
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) is one of the many who commented on the incident, sharing:
‘t may be shocking to some, but being someone’s daughter actually isn’t a career qualification. It hurts our diplomatic standing when the President phones it in & the world moves on. The US needs our President working the G20. Bringing a qualified diplomat couldn’t hurt either.’
At the G20, Trump defined his time by meeting and palling around with dictators like Russian President Vladimir Putin and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to wide criticism.
Ivanka’s videotaped group appear to be discussing the economic aspect of some particular issue, and Ivanka can be heard trying to pivot into apparent sexism in discussions surrounding defense policy. During her time in the White House, she has often made a show of engaging with these kinds of issues, but the number of accomplishments that can easily be mainly credited to her work seems quite slim at best. She presented an ultimately failed paid family leave proposal that would have had new parents drawing from their retirement benefits to get some time off while caring for their newborn.
She did, though, seem to help launch a new women’s empowerment initiative within the U.S. government. Called the Women’s Global Development and Prosperity Initiative, the administration already allocated some $50 million in already appropriated funds towards the project and in their budget for the upcoming fiscal year, they requested $100 million in further funding from Congress. The fund’s goal is “economically empowering 50 million women in developing countries by 2025,” according to a statement Ivanka Trump provided to the Associated Press.
2025 is, of course, mostly after the Trumps will be out of the White House even if Donald wins re-election, so this lofty goal may be out of Ivanka’s reach by definition. It definitely pre-supposes that her father wins re-election, which considering his ten percent losing margins when pitted against potential general election challengers in polls, shouldn’t be assumed is actually on the way.
Since it’s still a relatively brand new project, whether the broken clock will strike right once for this remains to be seen. What isn’t a question however is the Trump administration’s established incompetence. The president’s family had zero experience in government before deciding to play cops and robbers on a big scale and occupy the White House.
Featured Image via screenshot
