By Ivanka Trump's presence on the global stage often prompts questions of what exactly her role as advisor to her father President Donald Trump entails, as well as jokes about her participating in 'Bring Your Daughter To Work' days.
The First Daughter attended the G20 Summit in Osaka this weekend for an event on women's empowerment, following the launch of the initiative launched two years ago. However, the moment which has attracted the most attention was a clip of her repeatedly interrupting a conversation between world leaders, and their bemused reactions.
In an Instagram Story uploaded by the French Presidential palace, clearly purveyors of political satire, Ivanka can be seen on the fringe of the conversation between French President Emmanuel Macron, British Prime Minister Theresa May, Canadian Prime Minster Justin Trudeau and head of the IMF Christine Lagarde.
"As soon as you start talking about the economic aspect of it though, a lot of people start listening who wouldn't otherwise listen," says Theresa May, to which Ivanka interjects to say, "And the same with the defence side I think, in terms of the whole eco-system, it's been very male dominated."
Her input causes Largarde to almost glance in her direction with a look of confusion and Macron to stare non-plussed at her. It's an encounter so painful that it looks as though it should have the Curb Your Enthusiasm theme playing over it, and one which body language experts would perhaps decode as being "extremely awk".
"Somebody please photoshop Ivanka the unwelcome interloper boxing way above her weight into the following," tweeted Hysteria podcast host Erin Ryan. So of course, the internet responded with mock-ups of her with a microphone at the Yalta Conference in 1945, grinning unashamedly while on stage with Martin Luther King, throwing a ball in front of Colin Kaepernik as he kneels for the National Anthem, and kissing a Starbucks cup while next to Malala Yousafzai.
More than just suggesting she is out of her own depth, the #UnwantedIvanka memes point to the brazen claim that the entire Trump family feel they have to the world stage. Her role as advisor to her father has become a golden ticket to events like the G20, a forum she feels entitled to be part of and where, like the photoshopped images of her grinning, she has no awareness of how she is perceived.
It's a similar entitlement and lack of awareness which saw Louise Linton, the wife of Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, Instagram a photograph of herself descending the steps of a United States government plane in 2017. Captioned ,“Great #daytrip to #Kentucky! “#nicest #people #beautiful #countryside #rolandmouret pants #tomford sunnies, #hermesscarf #valentinorockstudheels #valentino #usa”, the image drew strong criticism, with many asking what exactly Linton was doing using a government plane for a photoshoot.
Both Linton's shiny haired #SponCon moment and Ivanka's G20 outing look like the levelling consequence of a reality TV star becoming President: that no political event is off-limits from being used for a personal PR exercise.
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