In an interview with Cosmopolitan,
Ivanka Trump, Donald Trump's daughter, conceded that her father's
maternity plan does not cover gay dads.
The policy, unveiled on Tuesday,
promises six weeks of paid-time off for recent mothers.
Ivanka Trump is credited with forming
the plan, which she promoted during a speech at the Republican
National Convention in Cleveland where her father accepted the
Republican presidential nomination.
Prachi Gupta asked Trump how a two-dad
family would be impacted by the policy.
“This is a giant leap from where we
are today, which is sadly, nothing,” she said. “Both sides of the
aisle have been unable to agree on this issue, so I think this takes
huge advancement and obviously, for same-sex couples as well, there's
tremendous benefit here to enabling the mother to recover after
childbirth. It's critical for the health of the mother. It's critical
for bonding with the child, and that was a top focus of this plan.”
“So I just want to be clear that, for
same-sex adoption, where the two parents are both men, they would not
be receiving special leave for that because they don't need to
recover or anything?” Gupta pressed.
“Well, those are your words, not
mine,” Trump responded. “Those are your words. The plan, right
now, is focusing on mothers, whether they be in same-sex marriages or
not.”
In a Fox News interview, Trump told
Megyn Kelly that Hillary Clinton's website has no policy “pertaining
to any of these issues: child care, elder care, or maternity leave or
paternity leave, for that matter.”
Clinton's policy – tucked on her
website under a prominent tab labeled “issues” – promises up to
twice (12 weeks) the amount of paid family and medical leave to care
for a new child or a seriously ill family member.