Throughout Donald Trump’s presidential campaign, daughter Ivanka Trump was widely praised as a lone voice of reason and sanity in a crowd of power-hungry yes men.
Now that her father has been sworn into office and kicked off his agenda of state-sanctioned bigotry, however, many who were previously singing Ivanka’s praises are now bashing the 35-year-old for what they see as helping to normalize a number of dangerous ideals.
Prior to assuming the role of de facto first lady, Ivanka successfully cashed in on her name as a model and designer.
Now, however, it seems that her business interests have collided with her political ambitions in a damaging way.
The department store chain Nordstrom announced on Thursday that it’s bringing an end to its partnership with Ivanka, and will no longer carry her products in its stores or on its website.
The store insists that the decision is a result of the poor performance of Ivanka’s signature line of footwear, and is not motivated by her controversial political affiliations.
“We’ve said all along we make buying decisions based on performance,” Nordstrom said in a statement.
“In this case, based on the brand’s performance, we’ve decided not to buy it for this season.”
Despite the denial, it’s hard to believe that politics played no part in the decision.
Throughout the 2016 election, Nordstrom was repeatedly forced to disavow any ties to the Trump campaign.
“We hope that offering a vendor’s products isn’t misunderstood as us taking a political position,” the company wrote on Twitter on Nov. 2. “We’re not.”
Many believe that the decline in sales for Ivanka’s shoes was a direct result of the #GrabYourWallet movement, which encourages those who oppose Trump to boycott businesses and organizations with ties to the president and his family.
“Big news everyone. You did this. I am in awe,” movement co-founder Shannon Coulter tweeted yesterday, along with a link to an article about Nordstrom’s decision.
So while the retailer may claim that the decision to sever ties with Ivanka had nothing to do with her father, the declining popularity of her line of products was almost certainly the result of recent developments in the political arena.
And something tells us Ivanka may be experiencing more of this type of push-back in the years to come.
