Finley: Left bites Ivanka’s liberal hand

Liberals are so determined to vanquish all things Trump that they risk losing the one friend they may have in this new White House.

Ivanka Trump, the new president’s oldest daughter and most trusted personal adviser, is as stylish a first family member as the country has seen in a while. She turned her fashion sense into a clothing line that is sold in many of the nation’s top stores, including Nordstrom.

Or at least it was. The sight of Ivanka Trump’s name on the garments’ labels so triggered the derangement of her father’s haters that they demanded the upscale retailer rid the clothing from its racks, or face boycott.

Boycotts are the favorite weapon of the resistance movement. Anyone who suggests affinity for Donald Trump or cooperates with his administration or fails to speak out against him on command (see Tom Brady) faces being ostracized or having their livelihoods threatened and their names smeared.

The left’s demand for conformity in loathing Trump is creating a blacklist to rival that of Joe McCarthy’s Red Scare.

So Ivanka Trump’s fancy dresses are a natural target. It’s not the first time the first daughter has been villainized. Shortly after the election, she and her children were shouted off a commercial plane by rude, self-righteous wackos.

Ivanka, though, like her father has donated to several Democrats in the past, is not quite a true liberal — she endorsed Mitt Romney in 2012. But she’s a far sight left of some of Trump’s more ideological counselors.

Like Trump himself, she’s a product of the New York social scene, meaning she’s spent more time with liberals than with conservatives, tempering her views on social issues.

She and her husband, White House adviser Jared Kushner, reportedly killed an attempt by Trump’s inner circle to rescind an Obama executive order on LGBT rights. That influence was also evident in Trump’s acceptance speech in Cleveland, when he pledged support for gay and transgender individuals in an arena filled with roaring Republicans.

Ivanka also is pushing her dad to attack the wage gap for women, and to develop a parental leave policy. And she signaled her views on climate change by inviting former Vice President Al Gore and actor/activist Leonardo DiCaprio to Trump Tower for post-election meetings on the Paris accord and other global warming concerns.

Conservatives worry about Ivanka, seeing her as a liberal Svengali too close to the ear of a president who already stretches the definition of conservatism. You’d think at a time in Washington when they have so little influence, the left would find opportunity in courting someone who might carry their concerns into the Oval Office.

But liberals can’t see past their blind fury. To embrace Ivanka as a possible ally would mean letting go of a bit of their malice toward Trump.

So if you want an Ivanka Trump original, don’t look in tony clothing stores. I thought about ordering one online, as I did a sandwich last week from a D.C. deli being boycotted because its owner shook Trump’s hand. But the red lace sheath I fancied was not available in plus sizes.

nfinley@detroitnews.com