Why Is Princess Ivanka Filling In For Trump At G20 Meetings?

.@MaxineWaters on Ivanka Trump briefly sitting in for her father during the #G20 summit #AMJoy https://t.co/u5JgneS3iT
— AM Joy w/Joy Reid (@amjoyshow) July 8, 2017

By Susie Madrak — July 8, 2017

Maxine Waters is mad as hell over Ivanka Trump taking her father's place in meetings with world leaders at the G20 conference.

And she's not the only one. Sarah Kendzior, expert on authoritarian regimes, reminds us it's a warning sign of a hereditary kleptocracy.

The tale of the dictator's daughter and her prince <-- my warning about Ivanka and kleptocratic regimes from April https://t.co/FlaTsqvg3u

— Sarah Kendzior (@sarahkendzior) July 8, 2017

Boston Globe columnist Michael Cohen calls it "an embarrassment":

What an embarrassment for America https://t.co/P183Q9WSg8 pic.twitter.com/wfalG3CcrF

— Michael Cohen (@speechboy71) July 8, 2017

Others weighed in.

Follow-up thought: it's telling that no one in the US delegation -- including Ivanka -- thought this was a bad idea. https://t.co/dhwtri5fhk

— Daniel W. Drezner (@dandrezner) July 8, 2017

Seriously the fact that it was the Russians that shared this is more important than Ivanka sitting in her father's seat. https://t.co/a2knfYYDfo

— Yashar Ali (@yashar) July 8, 2017

It's going to be great when Trump decides to resign and tries to hand the presidency over to Ivanka. https://t.co/spmnT8paaj

— Bill Kristol (@BillKristol) July 8, 2017

Ivanka Trump sat in today for her father, between May and Xi, at the G20. I wrote recently about her odd role https://t.co/6C3CbORGIz

— Anne Applebaum (@anneapplebaum) July 8, 2017

If you're just waking up in the US, here's the latest embarrassment. Fox News would have a meltdown for *years* if this were Chelsea Clinton https://t.co/PLMz5fRUD1

— Brian Klaas (@brianklaas) July 8, 2017

One official watching G20 mtg said Ivanka has taken Trump's place at table at least twice today and did not speak.https://t.co/DpR4RKaDpB

— Jennifer Jacobs (@JenniferJJacobs) July 8, 2017

This is not normal. None of this is normal.

Explore more

Discussion

We welcome relevant, respectful comments. Any comments that are sexist or in any other way deemed hateful by our staff will be deleted and constitute grounds for a ban from posting on the site. Please refer to our Terms of Service for information on our posting policy.