The latest breach of ethics (as of this writing, but there will probably be another one before this is published) in President Donald Trump’s White House comes from one of his closest confidants: Kellyanne Conway. After Nordstrom decided to stop carrying the Ivanka Trump brand in their stores, Conway appeared on Fox News and dropped this gem:
“Go buy Ivanka’s stuff is what I would tell you. I hate shopping, and I’m going to go get some it myself today… It’s a wonderful line. I own some of it. I’m gonna give a free commercial here. Go buy it today, everybody. You can find it online.”
On CNN’s New Day, a Trump supporter named Selena Zito had this to say about Conway’s “free commercial”:
“What Kellyanne Conway did, by the letter of the law, was wrong. Having said that, if you watch the clip, it’s clear that she’s joking. And it’s also clear from the way she’s answering. She did not, to my estimation, go on there and be, like, ‘I am totally plugging her line.’ It appears to be a throw-away line. It’s clear that she was joking back and forth.”
Another member of the panel, Norman Eisen, took umbrage with Zito’s statement. Eisen was an ethics lawyer in the Barack Obama White House, and is a founding member of CREW, the Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington. He could barely believe what he was hearing:
“Wrong. Wrong… It is Ethics 101 that you do not get on television and plug a business. She was, at best, half-joking. Even [Republican Utah Sen.] Jason Chaffetz, who refuses to look at emoluments, even Jason Chaffetz said it was a clear violation… Here’s why it matters. I would agree that if this were an isolated incident, let it go. But it’s not. It’s part of this enormous Trump effort to capitalize on the presidency, to make millions. And that is wrong. She’s just following her boss.”
Most of Eisen’s response was in regards to host Chris Cuomo asking how someone could break a law if they did not mean to, which seems like a bizarre questions in and of itself. Watch the full clip below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v30yecG5B9g
Featured Image via YouTube Screen Capture
