Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
Fast Forward

WATCH: Did Kellyanne Conway Just Break The Law Shilling For Ivanka?

“Go buy Ivanka’s stuff, is what I would tell you,” Kellyanne Conway said on Fox News. “I hate shopping, but I’m going to go get some for myself today.”

The first daughter formally severed ties with her businesses, including her eponymous clothing lines, when Donald Trump was elected. But several retailers who used to carry her products have recently discontinued them, citing low sales that may be at least in part the result of boycott efforts like #grabyourwallet.

Nordstrom’s announcement that it would no longer carry Ivanka-brand products prompted a retaliatory tweet from the president, who raged that the store was treating his daughter “unfairly.”

And others have also rallied around her, circulating a #buyIvanka hashtag on Twitter and, in Conway’s case, explicitly shilling for the brand on national television.

That move may have been illegal, Chris Lu, an ethics adviser to President Obama, warned in a tweet of his own that highlighted the relevant law and tagged Rep. Jason Chaffetz, chair of the House’s committee on oversight and government reform.

According to him, it’s against the law to use public office for private gain. Endorsing the product of a friend is specifically prohibited.

Contact Helen Chernikoff at[email protected]

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

With your support, we’ll be ready for whatever 2025 brings.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.