Dumbest Pundit Alive Strikes Again With the Defense of Ivanka Trump 

If you are a follower of Today’s Political Discourse, you probably already know who the headline is referring to: dumb-as-rocks politics man Chris Cillizza, whose latest blight on humanity is a fantastically dumb defense of Ivanka Trump.

Trump was booed (albeit in a very polite, European way) during a Tuesday appearance at a panel discussion in Germany when she pulled her usual song and dance about how her father is a “tremendous champion of supporting families.” Cillizza’s take on the events: That’s our Ivanka, what did you expect??

“The easiest course here would be to pillory Ivanka. After all, it’s indisputable that her father has said things, repeatedly, about women that all people should acknowledge are unacceptable,” he wrote over at CNN.

Cillizza went on to equivocate two entirely dissimilar examples of President Donald Trump’s rampant misogyny: his remarks denigrating Carly Fiorina for her appearance and the infamous Access Hollywood video released before the election, in which Trump, then a reality TV star, admits to sexually assaulting women without their consent simply because he could get away with it.

The gulf between verbal insults and actual sexual violence against women is wide, but it’s worth some thoughtful reflection about how these two male pastimes are related. The pundit formerly known as “The Fix” is certainly not the man for that job:

[I]t’s important to remember that Ivanka is, first and foremost, her father’s daughter. As such, she is going to defend him — as would almost every daughter in any situation in which her dad is under attack. And, whatever you think of the Trumps, it’s beyond debate that they are a very close-knit family who always sticks together.

This essentially sums up the world according to Cillizza, man without a single opinion, in one paragraph: maybe you don’t like or respect Ivanka Trump as a person, but she’s still Trump’s daughter, and that should command a certain level of respect. Wrong!

Cillizza goes on to insist that, in the mystifying realm of Beltway politics, where he’s paid the big bucks to explain How It Really Works to us rubes, Ivanka’s continuing defense of her father makes perfect sense, since it’s what she’s done before, and therefore probably what she will do in the future:

You can hate Donald Trump’s views on and treatment of women — and lots of people do! But, to expect Ivanka Trump to publicly condemn her father or his record on women’s issues is a bridge too far. It’s impossible for us to know what Ivanka Trump does (or doesn’t do) to influence her father’s views behind the scenes. And, because of that — and the fact that she is his daughter! — booing her for defending her dad is poor form.

Here, Cilizza is taking a page from the politicians he covers, responding to the question he wishes were raised rather than the one that was. Ivanka’s complacency as First Daughter and a formal member of the Trump administration shouldn’t surprise anyone. But if she is indeed the feminist force of nature her supporters claim—who’s quietly lobbying her father behind the scenes while having absolutely no appreciable impact on the policies he’s enacting—she deserves to be booed to oblivion every time she pulls another weak defense of Donald Trump.

The same should go for Cillizza, and any of the other horny hangers-on who are allowed to make a living being this shameless.

On an unrelated note, here are some things Chris Cillizza has said about Ivanka Trump in the past.