Gloria Steinem Explains Why Ivanka Trump Isn’t A Feminist

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By Thea Glassman May 9, 2017

Try to put the name Ivanka Trump in the same sentence as feminist, and you’ll get an earful from Gloria Steinem.

During an interview with Refinery29, the activist was asked if she thought the president’s daughter was co-opting feminism — to which Steinem replied: “Nobody on earth thinks she’s a feminist, are you kidding me?”

The 83-year-old pointed out that Trump has not taken a pro-choice stand, and then criticized her take on maternity leave.

“I saw her being interviewed by Cosmopolitan, and she was asked about her maternity leave policy, but it’s only if you physically give birth,” Steinem said. “It’s not for adoptive parents, not for fathers.”

Steinem also shook her finger at Trump’s decision to promptly end the interview, after the Cosmopolitan reporter tried to ask follow-up questions.

The president’s daughter maternity leave policy, she added, has darker roots.

“That happens to be the same policy as every authoritarian regime on Earth that I know of, including Hitler’s Germany,” Steinem said. “I’m not saying that she knows this, but [the Nazis] were paying women to have children. By accident, perhaps, that’s her policy.”

Thea Glassman is an Associate Editor at the Forward. Reach her at [email protected] or on Twitter at @theakglassman.