Ivanka Trump backs father, but knows when to step back

New York, October 22 

She is as calm and thoughtful as her father is strident and impetuous. She is Ivanka Trump, and the distance she has taken from her father Donald has earned her both the respect of Democrats and the head-scratching of analysts.

So the Republican candidate shocked the nation by saying he might not recognise the results of the presidential election if he loses? Ivanka, the model-turned-business-executive, insists “he’ll accept the outcome either way”. So Donald Trump is caught bragging in lewd terms that he can do whatever he wants to women, then insists this was only “locker-room talk”? His daughter calls the comments “inappropriate and offensive” and admits that her father’s words can be “uncomfortable for us”.

Ivanka, soon to turn 35, is still clearly her father’s protegee. He has been unstinting in his praise for his glamorous offspring, a graduate of the prestigious Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. Trump counts on her to attract young and female voters. 

In introducing her father at the Republican convention in July, Ivanka bragged about his “strength” and his “kindness and compassion”. But she also knows when to step back.

Having grown up in the spotlight from an early age, at a time when her father’s extramarital affairs filled the tabloid press, Ivanka knows how to tend to her own image — and that of the clothing line that bears her name.

Her Twitter and Instagram accounts help nourish her brand, celebrating women who juggle family life and work — with impeccable style — as does a book she plans to publish next year.

They portray an ideal family: her husband Jared Kushner, her “biggest fan”, for whom she converted to Judaism, and their three children, aged five, three and six months. She has drawn on her family experiences to distinguish herself during the campaign, quietly urging her father to make promises far removed from Republican orthodoxy, such as a call for six weeks of paid maternity leave and for childcare deductions. — AFP

Forever Trump: Supporters’ rallying cry 

Johnstown: Pundits and pollsters say the bottom may be falling out of Donald Trump’s White House run, but diehard supporters in the western Pennsylvania city of Johnstown strongly disagree. Trump’s campaign has stalled after lackluster performances at all three presidential debates with Democratic rival Hillary Clinton. It also has been hurt because of the scandal over his alleged groping of women, and the furore over his unprecedented suggestion that he might not accept the outcome of the election. But inhabitants of this part of Pennsylvania pay little heed to predictions of the Republican candidate’s demise, lapping up his message of economic resurgence after decades of decline. AFP