Ivanka Trump, the millionaire heiress of a property magnate who happens to be married to the millionaire heir of a totally different property magnate, knows what the American people want. And folks, according to Ivanka, it’s not people like Ivanka Trump.
Asked about Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and the Democrats’ Green New Deal during a Fox News interview on Monday evening, Ivanka insisted that real Americans want nothing to do with the proposal—particularly a universal guaranteed income, which isn’t even in the congressional resolution.
“I don’t think most Americans, in their heart, want to be given something. I’ve spent a lot of time traveling around this country over the last four years. People want to work for what they get,” Ivanka told Fox News’ Steve Hilton. “So, I think that this idea of a guaranteed minimum is not something most people want. They want the ability to be able to secure a job. They want the ability to live in a country where’s there’s the potential for upward mobility.”
While a universal basic income was mentioned in an early draft of the Green New Deal, the Green New Deal resolution introduced by Ocasio-Cortez and Sen. Ed Markey doesn’t have a universal basic income. (It does have a job guarantee, though.)
Either way, I think most people would prefer knowing with absolute certainty that they’ll have food on the table and a roof over their head over spending their lives living paycheck to paycheck. But hey, what do I know? I’m not the uber-wealthy failed fashion designer with the government job handed to me by my (allegedly) billionaire father.
But maybe Ivanka truly has had a change of heart, and now genuinely believes that unearned wealth is a bad thing. If that’s the case, I sincerely look forward to watching the eldest Trump daughter empty her bank accounts, change her last name, and strike out on her own as the dedicated individualist she believes she can be. That’s the American way, right?