Conway Promotes Ivanka Trump Products in White House Interview, Raising Ethics Questions

White House counselor Kellyanne Conway gave a “free commercial” for Ivanka Trump’s clothing line Thursday, raising questions as to whether she violated a federal rule that bars public officials from using their positions to promote private business interests.

“It’s a wonderful line. I own some of it,” Conway said during an interview on Fox News. “I’m going to give it a free commercial here. Go buy it today everybody; you can find it online.”

Source

It appears that the Trump administration is doubling down in defense of Ivanka's clothing line. While Trump's tweet yesterday may have been in poor judgment it appears that Conway has actually broken the law.

This comedy of errors gets more ridiculous as the days go on and yet people will continue to defend everything this administration does.

ETA: This link provides a video of the interview.
Fox News Insider

a reply to: Xcalibur254

The attacks on Trump's family are unprecidented. The response could therefore not be planned.

a reply to: Xcalibur254

Sigh, Ivanka doesn't deserve to have people act biggoted towards her, due to their dislike of her father. Its the height of hypocrisy.

I think Kelly Ann is riding the fine line here and would of been better leaving it lay.

Ivanka is a wonderful person from what I can tell, screw Nordstrom and their customers if theyre so thin skinned. Her line is beautiful.

a reply to: Xcalibur254
Is there a transcript?
From your source...

Conway’s unusual product endorsement from the White House briefing room came in response to reports that retailers, including Nordstrom Inc., have been dropping Ivanka Trump’s apparel due to lack of sales.

So I want to know what was asked. Did the reporter ask if it was a failing line with slumping sales? And KellyAnn answered? And then everyone went ape# because that's what reporters do?????

a reply to: Xcalibur254

originally posted by: Martin75
a reply to: Xcalibur254
Is there a transcript?
From your source...

Conway’s unusual product endorsement from the White House briefing room came in response to reports that retailers, including Nordstrom Inc., have been dropping Ivanka Trump’s apparel due to lack of sales.

So I want to know what was asked. Did the reporter ask if it was a failing line with slumping sales? And KellyAnn answered? And then everyone went ape# because that's what reporters do?????

How dare you ask for context!

a reply to: Martin75

The reporter asked if she thought the #GrabYourWallet hashtag was responsible for stores pulling the line. She actually twice told people to buy her stuff. The first time came when she was told that she had 30 seconds left.

This was on Fox News. So it's not like it was a gotcha moment. She willingly endorsed a product twice with no prompting.

ETA: Video has now been added to the OP.

a reply to: Xcalibur254

federal rule that bars public officials from using their positions to promote private business interests

That's gotta be the single most laughable clause in the federal rule. Every war since 1945 has been executed by politicians to promote private business interests or did the likes of Adnan Khashoggi get rich from pineapples thanks to the US?

This BS of selective memories and the very real reality that BOTH side have played this game for decades and now we have this crap.

Whilst we've got the pitchforks out, Obama should be jailed for constantly wearing NIKE clothing whilst golfing - that's clear promotion of a private business by the POTUS - Nike pays popular people lots of money to get their little logo out there.

a reply to: Martin75

When you SPECIFICALLY say that you are giving a free commercial, it's pretty obvious that you are giving a product endorsement. There really isn't much wiggle room around that.

They should doubling down in defense of Ivanka's clothing line and everything else. America is back and the liberals are just going to have to deal with it.. The Clinton Foundation scandal was/is still the big issue under the rug but it will soon be swept out.. MAGA

What question was she asked? I need context.

a reply to: DePlOrAbLeAmErIcAn

Isn't it funny that the administration that campaigned on bringing jobs back to America are vehemently defending a clothing line produced in China?

originally posted by: DePlOrAbLeAmErIcAn
The Clinton Foundation scandal was/is still the big issue under the rug but it will soon be swept out.. MAGA

You are still holding out hope that this candle will burn? Heh.

a reply to: Krazysh0t

You are still covering up pay to play and a child sex ring..
Trump is making America great again deal with it..

originally posted by: DePlOrAbLeAmErIcAn
a reply to: Krazysh0t

You are still covering up pay to play and a child sex ring..
Trump is making America great again deal with it..

I'm not covering anything up. I'm actually just passing time while I'm bored at work. I think you have me confused with someone else.

a reply to: DePlOrAbLeAmErIcAn

The only qualification Trump's Secretary of Education has is that her family has donated more money to the GOP than anyone else. And you want to talk about pay-to-play?

a reply to: Sublimecraft

mmmm..... While Obama did tacitly promote nike.

The question there is. Did he directly benefit from the promotion of said product?

If he did. Then certainly it was unethical of him to do so.

But if he didn't. Then it's not of consequence.

Here we have a white house pushing a product that directly benefits a Trump family member. And the question there is. Is that unethical?

LOL

Another perfectly executed trigger point.

They're getting better and better by the day.

If we're talking "ethics", why not talk about the company dropping Ivanka for no other reason than making a very public political statement?