News you need to knowAfter seeing a steady decline in sales from mid-2016, Nordstrom made a business decision to drop Ivanka Trump’s made-in-China fashion line. On Feb. 8, President Trump tweeted out his displeasure, saying, “My daughter Ivanka has been treated so unfairly by @Nordstrom. She is a great person – always pushing me to do the right thing! Terrible!”
The next day, Kellyanne Conway, counselor to the president, was on “Fox and Friends.” During this appearance she said, “Go buy Ivanka’s stuff, is what I would tell you. It’s a wonderful line. I own some of it. I fully – I’m going to just, I’m going to give a free commercial here: Go buy it today, everybody. You can find it online.”
Why this is not normalThis is a two-parter to unpack.
Party of the first part: Conway is a federal employee. Conway endorsed Ivanka’s brand on national TV. This was in direct conflict with federal ethics rules that state that folks who work for the executive branch can’t use their office for personal gain or to hype products for friends and family. These rules are what stop high-level employees and politicians from (blatant) profiteering and spamming the American public with biased product reviews.
Conway exposed that she either A) didn’t know about federal ethics rules or B) thought she was above them. Neither is an honorable, trustworthy chair to sit in.
Party of the second part: Back to President Trump. We can all agree that a president should foremost be concerned about the welfare of the American public. President Trump’s Nordstrom tweet was the latest example of what is on his mind – himself, his family, and whatever impacts their income stream. For the better part of a day, his leading concern was that a portion of his millionaire daughter’s near $100 million brand would disappear.
Where are his tweets about improving the lives of small business owners? Where are his tweets about working in a bipartisan way to create a better Affordable Health Care Act? What about the tweets about income and gender inequality? In fact, why is the president compulsively tweeting in the first place? We all know what happens to working-class folks who get caught with their phones on the job. Reprimands or getting canned. Why? Because when you are on your phone you are not paying attention to your job. President Trump, there are over 318 million people in America that *it is your job* to take care of.
Patty TempletonDGO Staff Writer
