On Women’s Agenda, we’re not surprised Donald Trump doesn’t completely get the issue of sexual harassment.
But we were surprised to hear how he — along with his son Eric — would feel if his daughter Ivanka Trump was sexually harassed at work.
Trump said he’d simply hope his daughter would change jobs or careers.
“I would like to think she would find another career or find another company if that was the case,” he told USA Today.
Because it’s that simple!
Meanwhile, Ivanka’s brother Eric told CBS that his sister is a “strong, powerful woman”, so would NEVER allow herself to be sexually harassed at work.
Because sexual harassment never happens to “strong” women!
While Ivanka’s not yet commented on her father’s helpful suggestions, she has previously written in her business book The Trump Card about having a “recurring nightmare” about being sexually harassed at work, something she said occurred frequently at her father’s construction sites during her childhood.
“The workers never realized I was the boss’s daughter when they started hooting and hollering, and it didn’t much matter how I responded,” she wrote. And once they realised who she was and apologised: “I’d laugh it off and act as it it were no big deal.”
She also wrote that while me must stand against sexual harassment, we should also learn the difference between a “hoot or a holler” and when it’s harassment of just a good-natured tease.
And wear a pantsuit. Pantsuits help, according to Ivanka. She wrote she’d try not to look too feminine on the job by wearing “plain black pantsuits” with her hair pull back into a bun.
Last month dad Donald said he feels “very badly” for former Fox CEO Roger Ailes — but didn’t mention feeling anything for former news anchor Gretchen Carlson and other women who claim they have been sexually harassed by Ailes. Rather, he thinks it’s “very sad” that women are complaining, because Ailes has helped them all so much.
As he told Chuck Todd on Meet the Press: “I can tell you that some of the women that are complaining, I know how much he’s helped them. And even recently.
“And when they write books that are fairly recently released, and they say wonderful things about him. And now all of a sudden they’re saying these horrible things about him… It’s very sad. Because he’s a very good person. I’ve always found him to be just a very, very good person. And by the way, a very, very talented person. Look what he’s done. So I feel very badly.”
In 2013, Trump blamed the 26,000 unreported sexual assaults in the military on gender integration. “What did these geniuses expect when they put men & women together?” he tweeted.
A reminder: this is a potential US President.
Meanwhile in case you’re wondering, here’s Ivanka Trump’s take on merging motherhood with professional goals, and how much sleep she gets a night.