Ivanka Trump says family separations were a "low point" for her
Ivanka Trump, top aide to and daughter of President Trump, said the separations of parents and children at the border were a "low point" for her, and broke with her father on whether the press is the "enemy of the people." She made the remarks in a Thursday morning workforce development forum with Axios' Mike Allen.
Mr. Trump has said publicly that Ivanka Trump and the first lady spoke to him about the administration's practice of separating children and families at the border, which Mr. Trump was ultimately forced to end with an executive order. Many families, however, remain separated, and scores of parents were deported without their children.
Allen pointed out that the separation of families was a low point for a lot of colleagues at the White House.
"Yes, that was a low point for me as well," she responded. "I feel very strongly about that and I am very vehemently against family separation and the separation of parents and children so I would agree with that sentiment. I think immigration is incredibly complex as a topic. Illegal immigration is incredibly complicated."
"I am a daughter of an immigrant," she continued. "My mother grew up in communist Czech Republic but we are a country of laws so you know she came to this country legally and we have to be very careful about incentivizing behavior that puts children at risk of being trafficked, at risk of entering this country with coyotes or making an incredibly dangerous journey alone. So it is, these are not easy issues. These are incredibly difficult issues and like the rest of the country there are - I experienced them in a very emotional way."
The eldest Trump daughter parted ways with her father over the media. Mr. Trump has declared the media the "enemy of the American people," and frequently uses more glowing terms for leaders like North Korea's Kim Jong Un or Russian President Vladimir Putin than American journalists.
Asked if she thinks the media is the enemy of the people, Ivanka Trump responded, "No, I don't."
Elaborating, she explained, "No I don't. I mean I certainly – I certainly have – I can share my own personal perspective. I've certainly received my fair share of reporting on me personally that I know not to be fully accurate. So I know I have some sensitivity around why people have concerns and gripe especially when they're sort of feel targeted but no I do not feel that the media is the enemy of the people."
CBS News' Jack Turman contributed to this report.
