Ivanka Trump sat down for an interview on “The Dr. Oz Show” recently, and discussed accusations that she has failed to “moderate” her father’s agenda.
The First Daughter also serves as advisor to President Donald Trump, and was a frequent advocate for issues like gender pay equality on the campaign trail. But since her father was sworn into office, Trump has taken fire for failing to make good on that promise.
In a preview clip of the interview, which will air in full on Thursday, Oz asked Trump about the criticism. She responded by saying that her critics misunderstand her role in the White House.
“My role and [the role of] anyone who works for the President of the United States, their role is to inform, advise and then ultimately execute,” she said. “So I’m not the decision maker. I have my views and I share them candidly — and as a daughter I have the latitude to do that. But I also respect the process now that my father is president.”
In a scathing op-ed in the New York Times earlier this month, contributor Lindy West slammed Trump’s role in the administration as “more a logo than a person.” West wrote that Trump’s feminist advocacy during the campaign was a sham, and referred to the First Daughter as “a scarecrow stuffed with branding, an heiress-turned-model-turned-multimillionaire’s-wife playacting as an authority on the challenges facing working women so that she can sell more pastel sheath dresses.”
Hillary Clinton also called out Trump in a recent interview for being “complicit” in the president’s actions, including those which run counter to his daughter’s personal beliefs. “Everyone associated with him… they’re either on board with that, or they’re not,” Clinton said. “And if they’re not, they need to be speaking out or leaving.”
Trump admitted to Oz that there are areas where she disagrees with her father, but she reiterated that it is not her place to push him on those issues. Instead, she said she quietly voices her disagreement and focuses her energy on the issues on which they agree.
“The American people elected my father based on his agenda, and my job isn’t to undermine that agenda,” she said. “It’s to embrace the areas where there are commonalities.”
“I feel privileged that he’s given me the platform to push areas and push issues that are aligned with his agenda,” she continued. “Where I disagree with the agenda, I’ll share it with him quietly but I don’t view it as my obligation to moderate. And I don’t think anyone working for a sitting president should see themselves in that capacity.”
Trump’s interview on “The Dr. Oz Show” will air Thursday, Sept. 21.