Ivanka Trump doesn’t see the media as “the enemy”

WASHINGTON» Ivanka Trump distanced herself from her father on two high-profile issues Thursday, saying she did not agree with his characterization of the media as “the enemy of the people” and that she was “vehemently against” separating migrant children from their parents at the border — calling the latter a low point of her tenure in the White House.

Her comments at a public event underscored the difficult balance Trump has sought as she provides private counsel to a president and father with whom she does not always see eye to eye, while enduring criticism for not being more outspoken about their differences.

Toward the end of a forum hosted by Axios that focused largely on workforce issues, an area of focus for Trump in her capacity as a White House adviser, she was asked whether she considered journalists in the room to be “the enemy of the people.”

“No, I do not,” Ivanka Trump replied.

Asked to elaborate, Trump offered what she said was “my own personal perspective.”

“I’ve certainly received my fair share of reporting on me personally that I know not to be fully accurate, so I have some sensitivity around why people have concerns and gripe, especially when they sort of feel targeted, but, no, I do not consider the media the enemy of the people.”

President Donald Trump has used the term on multiple occasions, and his animus for the media was on display again this week as he promoted a video on Twitter showing his supporters chanting “CNN sucks” as a reporter from the network did a live shot from the site of a campaign rally hosted by the president in Tampa, Fla.

The video was tweeted by Trump’s son, Eric, and then shared by the president with his 53 million followers on Twitter.

During Thursday’s event at the Newseum in Washington, Ivanka Trump was also asked by Mike Allen of Axios to share the high point and low point of her time in the White House.

Allen suggested a possible low point might be the separations of migrant children at the southern border that resulted from the Trump administration’s “zero tolerance” policy on immigration.

As a national controversy flared, Ivanka Trump reportedly asked her father to end the practice but remained publicly silent, prompting harsh criticism in some quarters — including from comedian Samantha Bee, who made national headlines by using a vulgarity to describe Trump’s reticence.

After Allen said the forced separations were a low point for many, Trump said “that was a low point for me as well.”

“I feel very strongly about that,” she said. “I am very vehemently against family separation.”

She went on to say that “immigration is incredibly complex as a topic.”

“These are not easy issues. These are incredibly difficult issues,” Trump added. “I experience them in a very emotional way.”

Ivanka Trump first broke her silence on the issue shortly after her father issued an executive order in June, seeking to end the policy his administration had put in place.

“Thank you @POTUS for taking critical action ending family separation at our border,” she wrote.

She called on Congress to find a “lasting solution” that is “consistent with our shared values.”