John Oliver Gives Ivanka Trump a Serious Reality Check: You Got Nothing on 'Merit'

[babylonsister]

https://www.thedailybeast.com/john-oliver-gives-ivanka-trump-a-serious-reality-check-you-got-nothing-on-merit?ref=home

John Oliver Gives Ivanka Trump a Serious Reality Check: You Got Nothing on ‘Merit’
The ‘Last Week Tonight’ host had some choice words for the president’s daughter (and senior adviser), who got every job she’s ever had because she’s “Donald Trump’s daughter.”
Marlow Stern
03.03.19 11:42 PM ET
HBO

snip//

But the HBO host was most riled up by the revelation that President Trump is said to have ordered his former White House Chief of Staff John Kelly to grant Jared Kushner top-secret security clearance—despite the protestations of Kelly and national security officials.

“One major issue with Jared having access to state secrets is, you know, it’s Jared—a guy who, even among Jareds, stands out as the ‘Jared’ of the group,” joked Oliver. “But the other issue with his top secret clearance concerns national security,” said Oliver, pointing to a Washington Post report stating that officials from Israel, China, Mexico and the United Arab Emirates saw Kushner as “exploitable” and hoped to manipulate him—not to mention how Kushner, as Oliver noted, “initially failed to disclose meetings with Russian agents to the FBI, and there have been concerns over his dealings with foreign businessmen and officials.”

Of course, both President Trump and his daughter—and senior adviser—Ivanka have repeatedly denied on the record that Kushner received any sort of special treatment.

“The president had no involvement pertaining to my clearance or my husband’s clearance,” Ivanka told Abby Huntsman on The View.

“Oh, please,” said Oliver. “I honestly don’t know what’s sadder there: either Ivanka is knowingly lying about her Dad forcing her and Jared’s security clearance through, or she genuinely thinks they got it on merit on their own. And if it is the latter, Ivanka, there are some things that you really should know.”

He continued: “You only became an executive vice president of the Trump Organization at 24 because you’re Donald Trump’s daughter, not because you are a 24-year-old business prodigy. You only got a book deal because you’re Donald Trump’s daughter, not because you’re a brilliant author and wordsmith. And you only hosted the Miss Teen USA pageant because your Dad owned the contest, not for your sparkling on-camera presence.”