Fact Check

Did Ivanka Trump Say Hunter Biden Benefited from Nepotism?

Two prominent U.S. political families sniped at each other over alleged abuses of influence.

Published Oct. 10, 2019

DALLAS, TX - OCTOBER 03: White House advisor Ivanka Trump speaks before the signing of the White Houses Pledge To Americas Workers at El Centro community college on October 3, 2019 in Dallas, Texas. Google announced that it is committing to a White House initiative designed to get private companies to expand job training. (Photo by Ron Jenkins/Getty Images) (Ron Jenkins/Getty Images)
Image Via Ron Jenkins/Getty Images
Claim:
Ivanka Trump said Joe Biden's son Hunter has benefited from nepotism.

Donald Trump's daughter Ivanka -- unlike her brothers -- generally avoids making overtly political remarks in public forums, but nonetheless one such remark attributed to her spread widely on social media in early October 2019:

This purported quote from President Trump's eldest daughter, who also helped run his business empire and now serves as one of his chief advisers in the White House, was used by critics of the president to berate his children for hypocrisy and chide them for riding their own father's coattails to fortune and status.

But Ivanka Trump never made the statement reproduced above, nor has she publicly weighed in on the ongoing Ukrainian controversy involving her father, former vice president Joe Biden, and Biden's son Hunter. President Trump has been accused of attempting to coerce Ukraine into providing damaging information about the elder Biden, Trump's potential adversary in the 2020 presidential election.

Ivanka Trump was pointedly asked about impeachment during a Fox News interview in early October 2019, but instead of tackling the question directly, Ivanka sidestepped it by responding that she was staying focused on her duties in the White House and pushing policies through Congress that she believed would benefit the American people:

Her brother Donald Jr., on the other hand, has been openly critical of the Bidens, a stance that has drawn scorn:

As Democrats claimed President Trump had been leveraging his office to push a foreign government into potentially benefiting his political campaign, Trump and his defenders attempted to shift the focus onto Biden, accusing the former vice president of using his own office to benefit his son Hunter, who sat on the board of a Ukrainian gas company.

Sources

Fox News.   "Don Jr.: If I Lied Like Adam Schiff They'd Throw Me in Jail for Perjury."     2 October 2019.

Fox Business.   "Ivanka Trump Reacts to Impeachment Inquiry for the First Time."     4 October 2019.

Bethania Palma is a journalist from the Los Angeles area who started her career as a daily newspaper reporter and has covered everything from crime to government to national politics. She has written for ... read more