Kellyanne Conway caused some jaws to drop (yes, it’s still possible at this point) by piling onto Nordstrom during Thursday morning’s episode of Fox and Friends. This follows up on Donald Trump’s rage-tweeting episode after the department store dropped Ivanka’s clothing line to to poor sales. He even retweeted his beef from the Official POTUS account, which now reads like a disorienting mix of policy-related cheerleading and score-settling complaints from the commander-in-chief.
To Fox News viewers, Conway chirped, “Go buy Ivanka’s stuff!” Host Steve Doocy didn’t appear to see anything wrong with this on-air advertisement, live from the White House briefing room. He also mentioned the #BuyIvanka hashtag, which is being used by Trump supporters in an effort to counteract the #GrabYourWallet boycott campaign.
In the wake of Trump’s Wednesday morning Twitter tantrum, many people dug up an old letter from Harry Truman, in which he defended his daughter’s Constitutional Hall singing performance in a rip-roaring missive that made Trump look a little more mild-mannered. However, there’s a clear difference in these cases. Trump’s not just blowing off steam. He’s trying to get Ivanka’s business back on the rails. He’s using his office to try and get her paid, after they both vowed to pull away from the empire while he’s in office.
Clearly, there are conflicts of interest at work and possible ethics violations, less than one month after Trump took office. Trump is also trying to crush a business through the office of the presidency — a power that is not out of the realm of possibility, considering how (on a previous occasion) he’s sent stocks tumbling through the power of one tweet.
Meanwhile, CNN’s Jake Tapper would like to remind his fellow Americans that they’re paying Conway’s White House counselor salary.
Reminder that you are paying @KellyannePolls's salary. https://t.co/3JP3RjuBPg
— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) February 9, 2017
Here’s the longer Fox and Friends clip for some added Conway context.