Ivanka Trump created a social media storm on Saturday by sitting on the chair meant for her father, U.S. President Donald Trump, at the G20 Summit in Hamburg, Germany. The photo showed the first daughter seated among world leaders in lieu of her father.
Ivanka being seated on the chair reserved for the U.S. president was heavily criticized on Twitter and other social media sites. However, for German Chancellor Angela Merkel, host of the G20 Summit, there was nothing wrong with what Ivanka did.
Part of the American delegation
The Associated Press reported that Merkel said it is common practice for delegates to ask other members of their delegation to sit on the chair or places reserved for their leaders.
The first daughter was seated between Chinese President Xi Jinping and British Prime Minister Theresa May.
“Ivanka Trump belonged to the American delegation, so that is in line with what other delegations do. And it is known she works at the White House and carries responsibility for certain initiatives,” the chancellor explained. Ivanka sat on Donald’s chair briefly only when her father stepped out of the room.
Among those who commented on what Ivanka did was a former advisor to President Barack Obama, a former editor, and Twitter members who found it odd that a shoe designer is now on the same level as presidents and prime ministers.
Sort of the whole point of America was that governmental authority was bestowed by the people not by birth https://t.co/2sE1a6Vlcr
— Dan Pfeiffer (@danpfeiffer) July 8, 2017
The G20 is not Take Your Daughter to Work day. https://t.co/wOlfQkBfEM
— Elizabeth Spiers (@espiers) July 8, 2017
Woman who designs shoes takes seat among world leaders at G20 https://t.co/gxSTnnnPdo
— Van Badham (@vanbadham) July 9, 2017
Reminder: You can be a feminist and still hate that Ivanka Trump had a seat at the G20. You can want your women officials to be elected.
— Geraldine (@everywhereist) July 8, 2017
The session was on African development where the World Bank president spoke about a development fund for women.
The fund for female entrepreneurs has $325 million from donors such as Germany, Saudi Arabia, Germany, and the UAE. Ivanka is one of the advisers of an online mentoring tool to match the female entrepreneur owners in developing nations with the fund, Reuters reported.
What many commenters did not like is that the president keeps on appointing to key posts his relatives such as his daughter Ivanka and son-in-law Jared Kushner for tasks that should be handled by more experienced, and preferably elected non-relative officials.
Climate change deal
While what Ivanka did was no big deal for Merkel, the German chancellor did not like Washington’s pulling out of the climate change deal. The G20 Summit’s final statement said the G20 and the European Union backed the Paris climate change deal which Trump had rejected. They promised to implement the deal quickly and with no exception, The New York Daily News reported.
The U.S. position was boxed off in a separate paragraph that Merkel said applied only to the United States. The chancellor said Washington’s position was regrettable.
