DNA Edit: Another clueless Trump

Despite Donald Trump’s divisive agenda, the US first family has strange ways of unifying American public opinion. This time, it was Ivanka Trump’s tweet, praising Oprah Winfrey’s impassioned speech at the Golden Globe awards, that has brought people from diverse walks of life together in their derision for her hollow empathy for women fighting sexual abuse. Oprah’s not-so-veiled criticism of Trump’s wayward ways with women — he is facing multiple accusations of sexual harassment — had inspired Ivanka to tweet “Let’s all come together, women & men, & say #TIMESUP!”. Little did she realise that Oprah was taking on powerful men like her father who have consistently abused their positions of authority to seek undue favours from women. Tweeples had a field day, attacking Ivanka and her failure to read between the lines. The heiress is keen to jump on to the #TimesUP bandwagon that has spread like wildfire.

Is she a clueless enabler or a savvy troll, jabbing her father with sly tweets? She’s more likely to be the former because Ivanka is making full use of the Oval office to further her business interests and Trump’s world vision. Without giving Ivanka a chance to defend herself, social media has come out with daggers hoping to extract a pound of flesh. Well, Ivanka can’t be faulted if she’s trying to defend her father. Blood runs thicker than other bonds — at least for the Trump family. However, the unwitting cheerleading of Oprah could have been avoided if she had been mindful of the context. Posing as a champion of victims, Ivanka may have stretched her credibility a bit too far. Here’s a lesson for the young lady: Don’t repeat the same mistakes that the US President commits in 280 characters! Her “empowering” hashtag is as superficial as it gets.