Trump Aide Defends ‘Lighthearted’ Pushback Over Ivanka Spat With Nordstrom
Image by Getty Images
A top aide to U.S. President Donald Trump on Sunday defended his colleague, Kellyanne Conway, after she was widely criticized for her public endorsement of the fashion line of Trump’s daughter, Ivanka.
Speaking on ABC’s “This Week” program, White House aide Stephen Miller said Trump adviser Conway was making a “light-hearted, flippant” comment when she urged Americans to buy Ivanka Trump’s products.
Conway’s comments prompted criticism from both Republican and Democratic lawmakers, as well as some legal experts who said she may have violated ethics rules that prohibit using a public office to endorse products or advance personal business gains.
Elijah Cummings, the top Democrat on the same committee, said on Sunday that Miller’s characterization of Conway’s remarks was incorrect. “This was a textbook case of a violation of the law,” he said on “This Week.”
Cummings said he was troubled by the fact that Trump is the authority who will ultimately decide how to punish Conway, if at all, after the Office of Government Ethics issues its recommendation on the matter.
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
