Every good parent loves their child and loves showing them off even more. Even presidents, Donald Trump included.
After taking office, Trump ensured that Ivanka Trump worked alongside him, serving as the co-chair of the American Workforce Policy Advisory Board. Praising her work, Trump spoke to the Economic Club of New York in 2019 and said that Ivanka “has now created 14 million jobs.”
However, this statement was a clear exaggeration, since from 2016 to 2019 the workforce added around 6.6 million jobs. Moreover, as noted in a Vox article, “The workforce policy board Ivanka co-chairs works with private companies to get them to offer training opportunities to workers … the result of that effort has been companies offering more than 6.5 million training opportunities … a training opportunity is not the same thing as an actual job.”
Trump’s claims simply highlighted how parents often go overboard when talking fondly about their children’s achievements. Unsurprisingly, Trump is not the only celebrity known for obsessing over their kids. George Clooney, while promoting The Midnight Sky in 2020, appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live! and talked about his toddlers, whom he claimed spoke fluent Italian.
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He said that his three-year-old twins, Alexander and Ella, had learned the language, saying, “We did a really dumb thing, which is, they speak fluent Italian … But I don’t speak Italian, and my wife doesn’t speak Italian, so we’ve … armed them with a language.”
He again went on to praise his toddlers on The Graham Norton Show, saying, “My kids are clearly my wife’s children … they are three and they speak fluent Italian, and they are way ahead. My wife is a genius, and they’re brilliant kids. It is my job to dumb them down … I teach them horrible things.”
Alicia Silverstone can also be included in this group, but instead of gushing about her son in public, she revealed a strange feeding ritual she followed. In 2012, she said in an interview that she fed her son like a bird, meaning she chewed the food herself and then put it into her child’s mouth, much like birds do.
Her feeding ritual naturally drew attention, as many people were shocked. Silverstone addressed the reaction when she told ET (via Us Weekly), “I can understand that it would make some people feel uncomfortable … I do want to let you know that this has been going on for thousands of years … and it’s natural.” While it made sense to give a child food that required little chewing, pureed baby food was already widely available in 2012, and that is what shocked people about her feeding ritual.
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Kim Kardashian is another celebrity mother who unabashedly praised her daughter North’s artistic skills and received backlash for it. Back in 2021, Kim posted a picture of a beautiful landscape while crediting North, who was only seven years old at the time.
While many joined Kim in praising the child, there were also many negative comments. For instance, one user remarked, “It’s Kim K so you have to take everything she says with a heavy grain of salt.” There were also references to Bob Ross, and memes flooded social media to troll Kim.
However, Kim proved she was not the kind of mother to sit back and watch as people mocked her child’s artistic abilities. According to People, Kim slammed critics, saying, “DON’T PLAY WITH ME WHEN IT COMES TO MY CHILDREN!!! My daughter and her best friend have been taking a serious oil painting class … North worked incredibly hard on her painting which took several weeks to complete … Please stop embarrassing yourselves with the negativity and allow every child to be GREAT!”
These are examples of celebrities being relatable to everyday people because when it comes to children, parents often get carried away, and being a star doesn’t mean much in those moments.
