Cosmopolitan ran an interview with Ivanka Trump on Wednesday involving complex questions about her father and his just-released childcare plan. And wow, she did not see questions like these coming.
In 2004, Donald Trump said that pregnancy is an inconvenient thing for a business. It's surprising to see this policy from him today. Can you talk a little bit about those comments, and perhaps what has changed?
You really can't blame her for eventually cutting the interview short, since she's done easy breezy interviews with Cosmo before about things like how to feel more confident at work.
This time, however, Prachi Gupta's questions ran her over like a freight train, and she was eventually crushed by the weight of reality, bowing out of the interview early.
Here's one of her answers:
So I think that you have a lot of negativity in these questions, and I think my father has put forth a very comprehensive and really revolutionary plan to deal with a lot of issues. So I don't know how useful it is to spend too much time with you on this if you're going to make a comment like that.
Yup, before cutting it short, Trump rebuked Gupta for the "negativity" of her questions while simultaneously lauding her father for finally attempting to thoughtfully address any serious issue at all (are we giving out participation awards now?).
The "negativity" in the questions was important. While it is admittedly wonderful that a Republican candidate proposed any sort of parental leave, Trump's plan could actually make things worse for women, by not making allowances for paternity leave. One big difference is that Trump's plan mandates "maternity" leave, while Clinton's proposes "family" leave.
Trump's plan makes no provisions for (or even mentions of) fathers, even in the case of gay men adopting or using a surrogate to have a baby. In the Trump world, it seems moms would stay home to care for the baby while dad would be promptly back at work, making it that much more appealing to companies to hire men over women.
Trump's plan also means women would earn money during their leave, but not their full salaries—their income during that time would be the equivalent of unemployment benefits, which is usually a lot less than what they'd normally make. Clinton's plan, on the other hand, guarantees women at least two-thirds of their regular income, to be paid for by increasing taxes on the rich.
When faced with the Ghost of Things Trump Said Past, like how pregnancy is actually inconvenient for businesses, Ivanka Trump stumbled:
I would like to say that I'm sorry the questions—you're finding them negative, but it is relevant that a presidential candidate made those comments, so I'm just following up.
Well, you said he made those comments. I don't know that he said those comments.
This is quoted from an NBC [interview] from 2004. I definitely did not make that up. I do want to talk to you a little bit beyond the plan, as well—
And when asked how her father proposed to pay for the plan, Trump folded:
I want to talk about how this will be paid for. I know that Donald Trump wants to have an increase in defense spending, also is promising tax cuts, [wants to raise] infrastructure spending, and wants to build a wall [at the Mexican border]. How will this plan be paid for?
Well, he's going to unveil his total tax-reform plan on Thursday, and this is a component of that, so it will be included in his overall budget and economic vision. So it is accounted for, it is paid for under this plan, and it is budget-neutral. In terms of the paid leave component, that's self-financing through reforms in existing unemployment insurance. So the child care component of the plan, and the dependent care component of the plan, will be presented as part of the larger tax reform that he's going to be presenting on Thursday in a speech here in New York. And the paid leave component is self-financing through the reforms I just mentioned.
I'm going to jump off, I have to run. I apologize.
In her heart she wanted to add "a bridge" after "jump off." Game over.