Ivanka: It’s Not True My Father Is Sexist or Racist

Wednesday on CNN, Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump’s daughter Ivanka Trump said, “I feel that as a daughter, but I still know the man. I as a woman, I as a person, could never support someone who was sexist or racist. I just couldn’t. I would not be able to be okay with that, but I know who he is as a human being, and I know those things are not true.”

Partial transcript as follows:

GLORIA BORGER: And let me move on now to the campaign a little bit. Your father has said that you and Melania had wanted him to be more, presidential is the word that he uses. Tell me about that, because do you believe that the nicknames he used for some people or the name calling was a mistake? Is that what you’re talking about when you say more presidential?

IVANKA TRUMP: My conversations with my father are really between us, but obviously I’m his child, and I also have been his colleague, and I’ve worked alongside of him for the past decade here at the Trump organization, and part of the reason we have such a good relationship is because he respects me, and because I’m candid in my opinions, and I share them, solicited or otherwise.

GLORIA BORGER: But to that question, I mean, do you think those were — did you tell him those were a mistake or you don’t?

IVANKA TRUMP: Well, once in a while he’ll say things and I’ll tell him he could do with ratcheting it back.

GLORIA BORGER: And he listens?

IVANKA TRUMP: Sometimes. And sometimes he doesn’t, and sometimes he listens for limited periods of time.

GLORIA BORGER: But you can tell him?

IVANKA TRUMP: I think it’s part of what people love about him. It’s also what part of what angers people. He is authentic. You know, nobody tells him who to be. He is himself. He is his own man. He listens to the opinions of others,  he respects the opinions of others and he processes the advice people give him, and ultimately he makes his own decisions.

GLORIA BORGER: How do you reconcile the Donald Trump you know as your dad with the candidate that some people see and consider so divisive? How do you square that — that circle for our viewers?

IVANKA TRUMP: My father has always elicited strong opinions in people. He is bold. He is unabashed. He is very himself, and I think for me, the ultimate — the most important thing, is if I know the man. So when I hear things that are factually inaccurate, it’s sometimes hurtful. I feel that as a daughter, but I still know the man. I as a woman, I as a person, could never support someone who was sexist or racist. I just couldn’t. I would not be able to be okay with that, but I know who he is as a human being, and I know those things are not true. And not many people say those things, but when they do it’s easier for me to dismiss it because of that fact.

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