Ivanka Trump shared 20 photos on Instagram Friday under the caption “Little bits of summer.” There were gym selfies, beach reads, family snapshots, and a photo of her posing with Jared Kushner. Then there was the mug. White, simple, two words: “Be Kind.” It was the only image in the carousel that nobody could leave alone.
View this post on Instagram
The comments arrived fast and they arrived with a clear destination in mind.
Stay up-to-date with the latest news!
Subscribe and start recieving our daily emails.
“You should give that mug to your father,” one user wrote. “Maybe you should give that mug to your dad. I think he’s the one who needs the reminder,” added another. A third went further: “Did you buy this mug for your dad and Miller,” a reference to the president and Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller.
Others were less measured. “Yours is a Crime Family. You would be a barista at Starbucks if it weren’t for your father’s fraud and tax evasion,” one commenter wrote, while another called the Trumps “the worst, out of touch people alive.” Someone else took a dig at the Albania resort: “Did you, by chance, ‘discovered’ another ‘place’ that you can turn into a capital investment?”
Ivanka has said repeatedly that she prefers to stay out of politics, telling Fox and Friends back in 2017: “I try to stay out of politics.” Her followers, however, have never quite extended her that courtesy, and this year in particular every post she shares seems to find its way into a larger argument she did not intend to start.
In April, a post about her “magical night” at a White House state dinner drew accusations of flaunting wealth while ordinary Americans struggled with grocery bills. In July, posting about attending the World Cup final prompted critics to call the family “classless.” A kindness mug was, in retrospect, always going to be a complicated choice.
The political climate surrounding the post made it considerably more so.
Trump’s approval rating hit a record low in YouGov tracking as of July 28, sitting at just 34% approval against 62% disapproval, with midterm elections less than 100 days away. A “Be Kind” post from the president’s daughter in that environment struck many people as either oblivious or bold, depending on their generosity of interpretation. “You either have a lot of gall or are living in a delusional fantasy world to post a ‘Be Kind’ mug. No one believes that for a minute,” one commenter wrote.
Away from the comment section, Ivanka’s life in Trump’s second term looks considerably different from his first. She holds no official White House role, living on Indian Creek Village, the private island near Miami that also happens to be home to Jeff Bezos and Mark Zuckerberg.
She co-founded Planet Harvest alongside friend Melissa Ackerman, a company built to move fresh food from farms to families and reduce waste, and has been building a parallel career as a fitness and lifestyle influencer.
Featured image via Instagram screengrab
