Last night Ivanka Trump owned the libs by posting a photo of herself on Twitter with a can of black beans. Just a billionaire heiress in a white dress with gigot sleeves, planning her family’s meals for the week, NBD.
Well, that’s slightly less awkward than her father posing with an upside-down bible outside a locked church. At least nobody got teargassed for this living room photo-op. (If Ivanka Trump even knows how to work a can opener, then I’m the Queen of England.)
On Thursday, Goya CEO Robert Unanue appeared in the Rose Garden to proclaim the country “truly blessed” to be led by an “incredible builder” like Donald Trump. Presumably Mr. Unanue was not referring to the tent cities constructed to imprison refugees and migrants, built by a president who continually describes immigrants as “criminals, drug dealers, rapists.”
Amid calls for a boycott of the prominent Hispanic-owned food company, the First Daughter, an official White House advisor, offered her unequivocal endorsement. But only in her capacity as a private citizen!
“Only the media and the cancel culture movement would criticize Ivanka for showing her personal support for a company that has been unfairly mocked, boycotted and ridiculed for supporting this administration — one that has consistently fought for and delivered for the Hispanic community,” White House spokeswoman, Carolina Hurley, said. “Ivanka is proud of this strong, Hispanic-owned business with deep roots in the U.S. and has every right to express her personal support.”
Why is a government employee whose salary is paid using taxpayer money defending the First Daughter’s social media posts if they were made solely “to express her personal support?” Well, that’s unclear. But according to Walter Shaub, the former head of the Office of Government Ethics, the post represents a flagrant violation of ethics rules.
“There’s a particularly unseemly aspect to this violation: it creates the appearance that the government’s endorsement is for sale,” he told ABC. “Endorse the president and the administration will endorse your product.”
Indeed, according to 5 CFR § 2635.702(c), “An employee shall not use or permit the use of his Government position or title or any authority associated with his public office to endorse any product, service or enterprise[.]” While Ivanka’s Twitter bio claims to be her “Personal Pg. Views are my own,” it also lists her official position as “Advisor to POTUS on job creation + economic empowerment, workforce development & entrepreneurship.” Like her father, she rarely uses her “personal” account for anything other than White House and Trump campaign announcements.
Ivanka Trump’s post of herself LARPing as Vanna White was immediately turned into a meme, with her cousin’s book, a burning cross, and various, ummm, marital aids photoshopped in place of the can.
Which is hilarious, of course, except that this is real life, and the White House is endorsing private companies who publicly support its agenda in the run up to the election.
As Democratic ethics lawyer Norm Eisen told ABC “In the Trump administration, she will probably be rewarded. That bespeaks an ethical degradation for which the voters are about to punish the president severely.”
No beans about it.
Like father, like daughter.
Ivanka Trump’s social media posts about Goya beans provoke ethics backlash [ABC]
Elizabeth Dye (@5DollarFeminist) lives in Baltimore where she writes about law and politics.