Ivanka Brought Democrat Agenda to Washington, Surprised Actual Democrats Won’t Work with Her

The Associated Press
The Associated Press

First daughter Ivanka Trump has turned to conservatives to make a deal to pass a series of policies that are straight from the Democratic Party’s playbook, since she discovered that the Democrats are more focused on passing their own agenda than doing what is best for the country.

“I’m no longer surprised,” Ivanka Trump told USA Today about discovering first-hand the reality that Democrats would not work with her because they are more focused on passing their own agenda than doing what is best for the country. “I think that there are always people that will not move off of their talking points and then there are a lot of people who will,” Trump said. “You have to find the people who will; that’s how you build coalitions.”

According to USA Today:

Ivanka Trump showed up in Washington last year with a to-do list of policies straight from the Democratic Party playbook. The president’s daughter — a former Democratic donor — wanted the administration to tackle paid family leave, equal pay for women and affordable childcare.

She thought Democrats would join her in trying to move the agenda forward — after all, these were issues they had been championing for years and the president had just campaigned on some of them. But Democrats said her plan did not go far enough and while still discussing the issues with her, they have largely avoided teaming up with her. So the former businesswoman has turned to conservatives to try to make a deal.

Asked why she thought the Democrats were not collaborating well with her, despite their outspoken support for policies Trump is seeking to push, she reportedly said, “It’s always easier to be for something and not get it done than to accommodate another perspective and get it done.”

This comes despite reports in March of last year that Democrats “love” her plan for affordable child care and paid family leave and a report from the month before that Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) said she was seeking Trump’s help to get support for her Federal Employees Paid Parental Leave Act. The act would reportedly provide six weeks of guaranteed paid leave to all male and female federal employees after the birth, adoption or fostering of a child.

During her speech at the Global Entrepreneurship Summit (GES) in India, in November, Trump praised international efforts to improve and expand the role of women in parts of the developing world. She also lauded her father’s administration’s efforts to see this through saying, “Only when women are empowered to thrive will our families, our economies and our societies reach their fullest potential.”

On the issue of child tax credits, Rep. Tim Scott (R-SC), who reportedly described Trump as a friend and ally said, “I’m not sure why in the world we would allow the Democrats to control family issues, that doesn’t make any sense whatsoever.”

As for the politics of it, conservative members of Congress like Rep. Mark Meadows (R-NC), who chairs the House Freedom Caucus, told USA Today that he’s met with Trump several times about topics “that conservatives would normally not be in favor of.” However, he reportedly noted, “She makes very compelling cases.”

Adelle Nazarian is a politics and national security reporter for Breitbart News. Follow her on Facebook and Twitter.

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