Ivanka Trump must be the least self-aware person in the country.
The 38-year-old poster-child for privilege and nepotism is spearheading an initiative that encourages out-of-work Americans to: “Find Something New.” This comes in the wake of an economic calamity brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic and exacerbated by the Trump administration’s gross mishandling of the crisis.
The soon-to-be-rolled-out campaign, created by the Ad Council, encourages the unemployed to seek paths to employment that don’t require an expensive four-year college education. The website provides a list of rising careers and information on how to pursue online learning, certifications, vocational education and apprenticeships.
The push appears like it would have been quite helpful, had it launched before the economy tanked. But as long as the virus continues raging out of control, there will be limited job opportunities. Millions have lost work since the pandemic hit us in early March, and there is no place for most of these men and women to go.
The name of this campaign, the timing of its launch, and the face of the operation, combine to make it one of the most tone-deaf initiatives in American history.
Getting career advice from Ivanka Trump is a slap in the face to hard-working Americans. Ivanka has her position as White House advisor because her father is the president. That is her one and only qualification. Prior to that post, she served as Executive Vice President of the Trump Organization. Any guesses as to how she landed that position?
In 2017, Ivanka Trump and her husband Jared Kushner -- another rich kid who took over his family’s organization -- pulled in $82 million in income from investments and business concerns. Yet, when the economy tanked several months ago, three Kushner-owned companies pilfered up to $4 million out of the Small Business Administration’s Paycheck Protection Program, money that was earmarked for endangered mom-and-pop entities. Meanwhile, out-of-work Americans are two weeks away from having their expanded unemployment benefits expire. If that is allowed to transpire, and millions stop getting the additional $600 a week provided through the CARES Act, many could soon face financial collapse.
The last person Americans want lecturing them right now is a woman whose entire career has been handed to her by her wealthy daddy. Ivanka Trump encouraging down-on-their-luck Americans to “Find Something New,” is the modern-day equivalent of an 18th-century queen telling impoverished peasants: “Let them eat cake.”
But here is the difference between the historical Marie Antoinette, who was eventually beheaded during the French Revolution, and our 21st-century American replica. The over-privileged French queen never did utter her famous catchphrase. Ivanka Trump, on the other hand, is actually telling the unemployed to try something new at a time in which there is nothing new available to try.
When Donald Trump named his daughter a senior advisor, many people overlooked the brazen nepotism in the hopes that her liberal influence would deter the president from acting on his worst impulses. We have been sorely disappointed in that regard, as Trump’s presidency has become more disturbing by the day.
Ivanka’s sway seems to have had no effect on the president’s cruel policies or his erratic behavior. She has been feckless to the extreme, showing virtually no sign of disagreeing with any aspect of Trump’s abhorrent regime. If the polls are to be believed, Americans are fed up with this ongoing family circus and ready to take Ivanka’s advice in one respect.
When it comes to the presidential election, the people are about to find someone new.