Anyone who knows anything about Nordstrom knows they make decisions based on their bottom line, and only their bottom line. If they decide to drop Ivanka Trump's line, it's because it's not making any money, which is why Sean Spicer's claim is ridiculous.
During his daily press briefing today, he slammed Nordstrom and made it personal.
"I think this is less about his family's business and an attack on his daughter," Spicer claimed. "He ran for president. He won. He's leading this country. I think for people to take out their concern about his actions or his executive orders on members of his family, he has every right to stand up for his family and applaud their business activities, their success."
Actually, that's not entirely so, given that the Emoluments Clause of the U.S. Constitution looms large over this presidency.
He wasn't finished with that answer, though.
"There's a targeting of her brand and it's her name," Spicer mewled. Um, Sean? Her father is the president of the United States. She routinely sits in on high-level meetings with him. She needs to decide if her brand matters more than her access inside the White House.
He rambled on. "She's not directly running the company. It's still her name on it. There are clearly efforts to undermine that name based on her father's positions on particular policies that he's taken. This is a direct attack on his policies and her name. Her because she is being maligned because they have a problem with his policies."
He's not entirely wrong. For months, consumers have been boycotting certain brands via the #grabyourwallet boycotts. Ivanka Trump's brand was one. But Nordstrom's decision has far more to do with their bottom line than any thoughts on her policies or relationship to Donald Trump.
Nordstrom has a reputation for extremely good customer service. One might even suggest that for Nordstrom, the customer is king, right alongside the shareholder. If customers don't buy, Nordstrom won't carry it.
Meanwhile, Nordstrom stock is up even higher than it might have been if Trump hadn't gone after them at all.
