Ivanka Trump Formally Dumps Her Dad

In many ways, Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner’s tenure in Washington did not pan out as they had hoped, assuming they hadn’t hoped that working for her father would result in, among other things, Kushner becoming a worldwide punch line; the first daughter being called a “feckless cunt”; the people of New York aggressively (and justifiably) running them out of town; and their reputations generally being destroyed. Still, in other ways, their time in the White House worked out extremely well for them: Namely, Kushner’s four years of Saudi ass-kissing and murder-excusing led to a $2 billion check from the kingdom for his newly formed private-equity firm. Note: That’s on top of the up to $640 million the duo reportedly made in outside income while working as advisers to Donald Trump, thanks in part to their decision to flout conflict of interest laws.

And so it was presumably from this perspective—knowing that they’d probably be one week away from a traveling billboard depicting their faces as boils on the asshole of society, and also that they’d already exploited the office of the presidency to wring out every last dollar they could—that Ivanka took to Instagram last night, just around the time her father was announcing his third run for office, to write that she would not be involved:

In a statement to what we’re guessing was the only sympathetic outlet she could find, Ivanka elaborated, telling Fox News that she is “extremely close” with her election-denying, insurrection-inciting father. She added: “That hasn’t changed and will never change. I’ve had many roles over the years, but that of daughter is one of the most elemental and consequential. I am loving this time with my kids, loving life in Miami and the freedom and privacy with having returned to the private sector. This has been one of the greatest times of my life.” Noting that her three children “are at critical ages,” she said that she and Kushner are “happy where we are right now, and we will continue to support my father—as his kids.” To close, she said that while she “never intended to go into politics,” she is “very proud” of what she was “able to accomplish” while working at the White House.

Notably, she did not condemn any of the horrifying things her father did while in office, the two years lies he’s told re: the 2020 election being stolen, or the violent insurrection he fomented that left multiple people dead.

On Monday, it was reported that Trump had spent the weekend attempting to convince Kushner and Ivanka to appear with him onstage for his 2024 announcement. Not only did that not happen, but Ivanka wasn’t even at Mar-a-Lago when he delivered it (Kushner appeared in the crowd alongside brother-in-law Eric Trump).

Again, though, there’s no reason to believe that Ivanka’s absence and statements (and Kushner’s alleged handwashing of Trump) are happening because the couple realizes that Donald Trump was one of the worst president’s in history, or that he did many things wrong, or that they’re ashamed of enabling his four-year reign of terror. The only takeaway here is that they understand how deeply unpopular he’s become and that working for him made them look bad by association. They don’t like that—and now, with money in the bank, they’d like credit for taking the weakest of non-stands.

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