Trump Aide Defends ‘Lighthearted’ Pushback Over Ivanka Spat With Nordstrom
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A top aide to U.S. President Donald Trump on Sunday defended his colleague, Kellyanne Conway, after she was widely criticized for her public endorsement of the fashion line of Trump’s daughter, Ivanka.
Speaking on ABC’s “This Week” program, White House aide Stephen Miller said Trump adviser Conway was making a “light-hearted, flippant” comment when she urged Americans to buy Ivanka Trump’s products.
Conway’s comments prompted criticism from both Republican and Democratic lawmakers, as well as some legal experts who said she may have violated ethics rules that prohibit using a public office to endorse products or advance personal business gains.
Elijah Cummings, the top Democrat on the same committee, said on Sunday that Miller’s characterization of Conway’s remarks was incorrect. “This was a textbook case of a violation of the law,” he said on “This Week.”
Cummings said he was troubled by the fact that Trump is the authority who will ultimately decide how to punish Conway, if at all, after the Office of Government Ethics issues its recommendation on the matter.
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