Recently, First Daughter Ivanka Trump visited with a homeless woman, Kiesha Davis, and her mother in Washington, D.C. at the DC Dream Center, a place with a mission to inspire people young and old “to dare to dream, equipping them to reach their God-given potential.”
Ivanka was at the center to help distribute food to those in need as part of the Agriculture Department’s Farmers to Families Food Box Program. Davis, a homeless person herself, was not only there to get some desperately needed groceries, but to offer her assistance to the center and the program as a community advocate.
During the visit, Ivanka apparently made some pretty hefty promises to Davis, leading the homeless woman to express her thanks to the First Daughter in a video that ultimately went viral after Ivanka tweeted it out with the caption “It was great to meet you Kiesha!”
It was great to meet you Kiesha! https://t.co/fiRR7yq3ue
— Ivanka Trump (@IvankaTrump) July 20, 2020
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In the video, Davis says:
My mother and I, we’ve been homeless. We’ve been sleeping out of a vehicle. But I’m a community advocate, and so, yes, it has been depressing and debilitating, but I’m so grateful and thankful for Ivanka, coming here with everyone today to partner with DC Dream Center. That has been awesome to get food out into the community. They’ve allowed me to come and pick up food to be able to deliver to people that are shut-in, that are needy, that are homeless and disabled, you name it.”
However, in a new heartbreaking report from the Washington Post, penned by columnist Theresa Vargas, Kiesha Davis’ elation from her interaction with Trump has now worn off, as the First Daughter has yet to follow through, and has left her feeling deflated and used.
When Ivanka first posted the clip to her Twitter, some commenters were supportive of her move to help the homeless people of D.C. But many others were quick to try to warn Davis that she was nothing more than a pawn in Ivanka’s political game.
“This is too sad to watch. She doesn’t see that Ivanka only used her for a photo op,” one reply said.
But Davis remained optimistic, ignoring the warnings and remembering how “genuine” Ivanka seemed to be during their interaction.
Now, it’s been more than a month since their visit, Ivanka seems to have gone ghost on Davis despite her attempt to call the First Daughter, and she seems to be realizing that Trump wasn’t nearly as genuine as she’d hoped.
“There was hope in the moment, and then after that, it was like, ‘Okay, I’ve been through this before,'” Davis said, speaking with the Post. “I’m used to people blowing me off.”
Post columnist Vargas explained the gut-wrenching problem with what Ivanka has done to this woman, writing, “People who wield political power shouldn’t put vulnerable people on public display without offering ways to improve their situations.”
“Many Black people can’t march for justice. They’re too busy trying to survive the lack of it,” Vargas wrote.
Davis told Vargas:
I don’t want to cry. But I get so irritated. Emotionally, I’m just drained because I worry about my mom more than anything. If it was just me, I would be okay. But I just get so mad, because how did this happen? How did this even happen? What more can I be doing?”
You can read the full story here and you can contribute to Davis’ GoFundMe campaign here.
Featured image via Wikimedia Commons/DoD photo by U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Marianique Santos
