With all the complaints over President Trump hiring his daughter, a real estate executive with no Washington experience as a senior adviser, we do wonder where all the complaints when then President Obama hired his friend of 26 years, Valerie Jarrett, who just happened to be also be a a real estate executive with no Washington experience:
Let’s compare the two, shall we?
Like Ivanka, Jarrett had “no Washington experience.” From the NYT:
Chosen for: White House Senior Advisor and Assistant to the President for Intergovernmental Relations and Public Liaison. Ms. Jarrett is also co-chairwoman of the Obama transition team.
Will bring to the job: Experience in negotiation, persuasion and conflict resolution; a long record of outreach to the African-American community; fierce, almost familial loyalty to Mr. Obama and his wife, Michelle, both of whom she has helped work through decisions and fix problems. No Washington experience.
Like Ivanka, Jarrett was a successful real estate executive. From Wikipedia:
Until joining the Obama administration, Jarrett was the CEO of the Habitat Company, a real estate development and management company,[13] which she joined in 1995. She has been replaced by Mark Segal, a lawyer who joined the company in 2002, as CEO. Daniel E. Levin is the chairman of Habitat, which was formed in 1971.[14] Jarrett was a member of the board of Chicago Stock Exchange (2000–2007, as chairman, 2004–2007).
Like Ivanka, Jarrett had as much influence with the president as the president’s wife. From the NYT:
Obama’s irritation grew. “Man, it’s late, I’m tired,” he snapped. “I’m not going to any sorority event.”
The three staff members knew what their only option was at this point. “If you want him to do something,” Gunn would later tell me, “there are two people he’s not going to say no to: Valerie Jarrett and Michelle Obama.”
Like Ivanka, Jarrett had Secret Service protection. From the Chicago Sun Times:
Sneed is told Jarrett brings her bodyguards everywhere . . . like shopping, the gym, restaurants and visiting friends in Chicago, the source added.
Like Ivanka, Jarrett vacationed with the president. From Politico:
She vacations with the first family in Hawaii and Martha’s Vineyard.
But unlike Ivanka, Jarrett cost taxpayers $176,461 per year:
Unlike Pres Trump, who has to be paid, for Ivanka Trump, the “Government can set salary at any level, including zero," says her attorney.
— Mark Knoller (@markknoller) March 30, 2017
And there it is! Ivanka is Trump’s Valerie Jarrett, but she’s a bargain!
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