The kinder, gentler Trump: Speech sparks musings about Ivanka Trump's political future

At times, the speech was drowned out by the cheering crowds in the arena of the Republican National Convention. Then social media crowned a new political star, and some Republicans said they were seeing the U.S. president they longed for.

It was Ivanka Trump's night.

The eldest daughter of New York businessman-turned-presidential nominee Donald Trump almost stole the show Thursday night with a speech about her father that roused a packed Cleveland convention hall and was broadcast to millions.

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On Google, there were more searches for Ivanka than for her father.

The 34-year-old businesswoman and former model talked about her father's yearning to improve America, child care, equal pay for women and other issues close to her heart, with a poise some found befitting the White House.

"As president, my father will change the labour laws that were put in place at a time when women weren't a significant portion of the workplace, and he will focus on making quality child care affordable and accessible for all," Ivanka said.
Donald Trump hasn't addressed child-care costs or the gender pay gap so far in his 2016 presidential bid. They are issues usually touted by Democrats.

Trump's past statements on women in the workplace have included calling pregnancy "an inconvenience" and telling a voter in New Hampshire last year that women will receive the same pay as men "if they do as good a job."

On Thursday, however,Ivanka said her father "will fight for equal pay for equal work."

The speech won over many on social media.

"Okay, why isn't @IvankaTrump running for President?" television actor Anson Mount said in a Twitter post.

And Ivankawas a big hit among the delegates.

"One of the best speeches if not the best speech tonight," said Chris Herrod, a 50-year-old delegate from Utah who had worked for Trump's vanquished rival Ted Cruz, the U.S. senator from Texas.

Wisconsin delegate Kathy Kiernan called Ivanka's speech "perfect."

"I think she's amazing. I think that looking at his children and how great they all are and how much they all love their father tells you a lot about the man as a parent," Kiernan said. "I think she's one of his best assets."

California delegate Shawn Steel said Ivanka'sspeech was "the high point of the entire convention for me."

Appeal to millennials

"He does the blue collar, she does the millennials," Steel said. "It's a powerful combination. This woman I've been saying for some time is the greatest asset Donald Trump has."

Ivanka Trump introduces her father

8 years ago

Duration 0:33

Donald Trump's daughter began her speech talking about her political identity

One of Trump's five children, Ivanka was chosen to introduce her father, who then officially accepted the Republican Party's presidential nomination. Since Trump announced his intention to run for the White House last year, she has been steadily drawn into her father's presidential campaign along with her 35-year-old husband Jared Kushner.

The couple both take part in the Trump campaign's "family meeting" each Monday morning, helping make decisions about spending and strategy, according to a source familiar with the meetings.

"There is no one closer to my father than Ivanka," her brother, Donald Trump Jr., said in an emailed statement to the Associated Press. While he said his father is close with all of his siblings, Donald Trump Jr. said "his bond with Ivanka is truly unique. No one is more poised and articulate than my sister."

Ivanka spends far less time on the campaign trail than her brothers and her Twitter feed is rarely political, instead focusing on her clothing line and the family business. But she is also her father's not-so-secret weapon, one who steps into the breach at the most crucial moments.

Among the children, Ivanka is the one who is often the bridge to women voters and seems to have the mission of selling her father's softer side. When she is not involved in the campaign, she helps to run the family's sprawling business empire from its New York City headquarters.

"Ivanka is a terrific person, a wonderful mother and someone everyone has great respect for. She is highly intelligent and extremely talented, and I rely on her both for my company and my campaign," Trump told the Associated Press in a statement.

"She has great instincts in business and in life. I am incredibly proud of my daughter Ivanka, all of her accomplishments and especially her beautiful family."

Trump has long relied on his children in business. Ivanka, Don Jr. and Eric all hold executive positions at the Trump Organization, working in side-by-side-offices a floor below their father's.

That same family-driven model has extended to politics. Trump's children now play a central role in his campaign, occupying much of his inner circle and assisting him in decision-making. When his plane was grounded with mechanical delays just as Trump was working to settle on his running mate, he flew them out to join him in Indiana to spend time with the state's governor, Mike Pence, his ultimate choice.

This week in Cleveland,Ivanka has been everywhere, lobbying for her father with delegates and donors, appearing in television interviews and leaving a trail of picture-taking fans in her wake. One man, a Republican delegate in Cleveland, carried a placard all week around the convention that read: "Ivanka, 2024. First Female President."

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Her star turn in Cleveland was one of the top trending topics on Twitter late on Thursday, with about 121 tweets mentioning her name posted every minute. Overall sentiment on her was more positive than negative by a ratio of threeto one, according to analytics firm Zoomph.

Ivanka missed her one chance to date to vote for her father: she hadn't changed her party registration from Democrat to Republican in time to cast a ballot in the April 19 New York primary election.

She more than compensated on Thursday night, some convention delegates said.

"She gave us enormous insight into him and the kind of man he is," said retiree Fernando C. deBaca, a 78-year-old New Mexico delegate. "She's (an) enormously capable young lady, as is her brother. We're going to see the beginning of a dynasty here."