When Ivanka Trump Made It Clear She Did Not Believe in Donald's Claim of 2020 Election Being Stolen
A while back, in a revealing testimony to the congressional panel investigating the US Capitol insurrection on January 6, 2021, Ivanka Trump, daughter and former White House adviser to Donald Trump, made a noteworthy statement. She firmly stated that she did not believe her father’s false allegations that the 2020 election was stolen due to voting fraud.
During her video deposition, publicly shown for the first time during the House panel’s initial hearing, Ivanka revealed a prominent shift in her perspective. She shared that her opinion changed after conversations with Bill Barr, Donald's attorney general, until December 2020, when he resigned. Barr had repeatedly informed Trump that he had indeed lost the election, and Ivanka asserted, “I respect Attorney General Barr. So I accepted what he was saying.”
Cheney plays a clip of Ivanka Trump telling the January 6 committee she accepted Barr's conclusion that the election result wasn't affected by fraud pic.twitter.com/jcawWjXIyy
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) June 10, 2022
As per The Guardian, Barr’s stance was clear; he claimed that the Justice Department found no substantial evidence to support Donald Trump’s allegations of massive voter fraud, which the former President continues to assert. In his testimony before the panel, Barr revealed, “I repeatedly told the president in no uncertain terms that I did not see evidence of fraud that would have affected the outcome of the election. And frankly, a year and a half later, I still haven’t.” He further added, “I made it clear to him that I did not agree with the idea of saying the election was stolen, and putting out this stuff, which I told the president was bullshit, and I didn’t want to be a part of it.”
NBCNews: In a tape Chairman Thompson played of the Jan. 6 committees’s interview with William Barr, the former AG said he “repeatedly told the president in no uncertain terms that I did not see evidence of fraud that, you know, would have affected the ou… pic.twitter.com/FFw16P9zKW
— The Believer ™ (@maxvaldes) June 10, 2022
When asked by investigators about Barr’s statements influencing her perspective, Ivanka acknowledged the impact, highlighting a departure from earlier sentiments. In a video captured by filmmaker Alex Holder (subpoenaed by the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol riot) and seen by The New York Times, Ivanka had previously encouraged her father to pursue legal challenges against the election results, citing concerns about disenfranchisement and the sanctity of elections.
As per The Hill, she exclaimed, “I think that, as the president has said, every single vote needs to be counted and needs to be heard, and he campaigned for the voiceless. And I think a lot of Americans feel very, very disenfranchised right now, and really, question the sanctity of our elections, and that’s not right. It’s not acceptable.” However, her testimony to the House committee contradicted these earlier views.
This eventual shift in her public statements from what she once thought highlights the complexities within the Trump family during the post-election period. In response to the public airing of Ivanka's testimony, former President Trump criticized her stance as being influenced by respect for Barr rather than genuine belief. He portrayed her as being 'checked out' after the election, attributing her statements to a desire to maintain respect for Barr's position as attorney general.
