“A walking billboard”: Ivanka Trump criticized for using social media to promote her brand
President Donald Trump is not the only member of the Trump family who many fear has abused his office to burnish his business empire.
Ivanka
Trump is being heavily criticized for publicly wearing products
associated with her fashion brand while continuing to serve as one of
her father's advisers, according to The Wall Street Journal.
The Journal analyzed Trump's social media accounts — including
Facebook, Instagram and Twitter — to see how often photographs of
herself included products from her company. They found that bags,
dresses, jewelry and shoes from the Ivanka Trump line appeared in 46 of
the 68 outfits posted since she became a White House adviser on March
29, or 68 percent of them.
Although Ivanka Trump has
followed her father's lead and placed her company under the control of a
trust run by family members while serving in office, she still receives
financial information and a share of the profits. As a result, her
promoting her products in a public way could be construed as a conflict
of interest.
"Ivanka
Trump is testing the boundaries on federal rules that bar government
employees from using their position to promote brands that personally
enrich them," Guian McKee, an associate professor in presidential
studies at the University of Virginia’s Miller Center, told the Journal.
This
isn't the first time that Trump's fashion brand has been in an
unflattering spotlight since her father became president. In February
White House counselor Kellyanne Conway was heavily criticized
for plugging Trump's brand on television. Despite the clear ethical
dilemma, however, Conway was ultimately not punished for her actions and
Trump's product line saw a 10,700 percent increase in sales from where
it had been the previous year in the immediate aftermath of Conway's
plug.
No comments:
Post a Comment