Ivanka Trump says she doesn’t consider the media ‘the enemy of the people,’ disagrees with immigrant family separations

WASHINGTON – Ivanka Trump said Thursday that she does not agree with her father’s characterization of the media as “the enemy of the people” and that she was “vehemently against” separating children from parents at the border, calling that a low point of her White House tenure.

The comments from Trump, a White House adviser, came during an event hosted by Axios at which she was asked whether she concurs with President Donald Trump’s frequent description of the news media.

“No, I do not,” Ivanka Trump replied.

Asked to elaborate, Trump offered what she said was “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 have some sensitivity around why people have concerns and gripe, especially when they sort of feel targeted, but, no, I do not consider the media the enemy of the people.”

Trump was also asked by Mike Allen of Axios to share the high point and low point of her tenure in the White House.

Allen suggested a possible low point might be the separations of migrant children at the southern border that resulted from the Trump administration’s “zero tolerance” policy on immigration.

As a national controversy flared, Ivanka Trump reportedly asked her father to end the practice but remained publicly silent, prompting harsh criticism in some quarters.

“That was a low point for me,” Trump told Allen on Thursday. “I feel very strongly about that. I am very vehemently against family separation.”

She went on to say that “immigration is incredibly complex as a topic.”

“These are not easy issues. These are incredibly difficult issues,” Trump said. “I experience them in a very emotional way.”

As a high point, Trump cited the president’s commutation of the sentence of Alice Marie Johnson, a 63-year-old woman serving life in prison for a nonviolent drug conviction after her case was brought to his attention by the reality television star Kim Kardashian.

Ivanka Trump said she was moved by watching news coverage of Johnson leaving prison and running into the arms of her waiting family.

“I was crying,” Trump said. “It was one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen. It reminds you of the real impact you have on people.”