On Good Morning America Wednesday, ABC’s Deborah Roberts grilled First Daughter Ivanka Trump, in an exclusive interview, on everything from her recent email scandal to President Trump’s “tone.” While GMA just did a series of interviews with former First Lady Michelle Obama that were warm, friendly and non-confrontational, the tone and questions asked in this interview with Ivanka couldn’t have been more different.
Roberts began by asking Trump about a recent report that revealed she used her personal email to discuss White House business in 2017. Roberts mislead viewers by trying to say that what Trump did was equivalent to Hillary Clinton creating a private server in her own home as Secretary of State, then deleting confidential emails and destroying devices during an investigation:
"Your father had taken Hillary Clinton to task for this so how did you wind up in a similar situation?" Roberts asked.
While Trump capably and clearly laid out the differences between the situations, Roberts still snarked back, “People see it as the same.” After again explaining the differences, Roberts pressed, “But your father hammered Hillary Clinton on this, said that it was criminal, she should be locked up.”
Again, Ivanka defended herself pointing out that what she sent was non-confidential and is in the public record, unlike Clinton’s deleted emails. Roberts wouldn’t be swayed from her biased questions, mocking her with this question:
“So the idea of lock her up doesn't apply to you?” the ABC reporter smirked at Trump’s denial before moving on to grill her about the border with these loaded questions:
“There are some very shocking images coming across these days at the border. Gassing families, children. How have you responded to those?”
And
“Your father authorized lethal force if necessary. Does that concern you?”
Roberts’s entire interview was confrontational, moving on to badger Ivanka for not speaking out enough on “women’s issues” (ie: abortion) and saying she needed to reign in her father for his divisive “tone:”
[M]any people say that your father is doing nothing to heal, if anything, he's creating more of a climate for hatred and for fearmongering. What do you say to that?
[T]here are people wondering do you advise him on his tone?
You do disagree with him from time to time?
You're working in the White House. People are saying you should do more. You should say more. You should influence him.
...
You are one of the most visible and powerful women in the White House. Yet, a lot of women say they just haven't heard from you and know where you stand on big issues. Why haven't you spoken out more?
Roberts ended the interview by asking her what her “mistakes and regrets” she had about her work in the White House, exactly the opposite question ABC asked Michelle Obama during their interview with her two weeks ago:
Any regrets when you look back over the last year or so?
What missteps would you say you've had?
