Ivanka Trump is defending her father’s history with women in the wake of a recently-published New York Times story that Ms. Trump called “pretty disturbing.”
“I found it to be pretty disturbing based on the facts as I know them, and obviously I very much know them, both in the capacity as a daughter and in the capacity as an executive who’s worked alongside of him at this company for over a decade,” Ms. Trump said in an interview with CBS this week.
“Most of the time, when stories are inaccurate, they’re not discredited, and I will be frustrated by that. But in this case, I think they went so far,” she said.
Rowanne Brewer Lane, a former girlfriend of presumptive GOP nominee Donald Trump who was featured in the story, has said the paper misconstrued her comments. The Times, meanwhile, is standing by the article.
The paper quoted another woman, Jill Harth, as saying in a deposition: “Basically he name-dropped throughout that dinner, when he wasn’t groping me under the table. Let me just say, this was a very traumatic thing working for him.”
“Look, I’m not in every interaction my father has, but he’s not a groper. It’s not who he is,” Ms. Trump said.
“And I’ve known my father obviously my whole life, and he has total respect for women,” Ms. Trump said. “He was promoting women in development and construction at a time when it was unheard of. There was no trend towards equality in the real estate and construction industry back in the 1980s. And he was doing it because he believes ultimately in merit.”
Mr. Trump has accused Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton of playing the “woman’s card” and has said Mrs. Clinton enabled her husband’s past sexual indiscretions.
“Is he using gender, or is she using gender? I think she’s using gender as well,” Ms. Trump said. “I’m not going to advocate for a female leader who I’m voting for solely on the basis of gender. And I think a lot of people feel that way.”
Asked whether bringing up former President Bill Clinton’s past infidelities is “worthy of a presidential campaign,” Ms. Trump said: “You would have to ask my father about it. I mean … my role isn’t politics. My role is running our business.”
• David Sherfinski can be reached at dsherfinski@washingtontimes.com.
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