'Please keep the fashion line and leave the White House' — Ivanka Trump's decision to close fashion brand has commenters buzzing

Gisselle Bances and Rennie Svirnovskiy

“Not likely she needs the income.”

“Thoughts and prayers.”

Ivanka Trump announced Tuesday that she is closing her namesake fashion brand. The shuttering of her company comes more than a year after the first daughter stepped down from the helm to take on a senior position at the White House.

Ivanka Trump applauds as President Trump signs an executive order establishing the National Council for the American Worker on July 19, 2018, in Washington. (Photo: Andrew Harnik/AP)
Ivanka Trump applauds as President Trump signs an executive order establishing the National Council for the American Worker on July 19, 2018, in Washington. (Photo: Andrew Harnik/AP)

“After 17 months in Washington, I do not know when or if I will ever return to the business,” Trump said in a statement. “But I do know my focus for the foreseeable future will be the work I am doing here in Washington.”

A pair of shoes by the Ivanka Trump brand is displayed at a shop in Tokyo. (Photo: Issei Kato/Reuters)
A pair of shoes by the Ivanka Trump brand is displayed at a shop in Tokyo. (Photo: Issei Kato/Reuters)

The Ivanka Trump line has taken a hit since President Trump entered the White House. Former fans of the fashion line and foes of the president alike took issue with the brand’s outsourcing of labor and with the first daughter’s promotion of her business while working as a government employee.

Despite company president Abigail Klem’s statement that the shutdown was a “very difficult decision for Ivanka,” Yahoo commenters were not sympathetic.

“Daddy can help with the bankruptcy paperwork,” one reader said in the comments section of the Yahoo Lifestyle article, referencing the president’s six filed business bankruptcies. “The company is losing money,” another commenter said, “and is that not the family tradition?”

“The polls can be wrong,” one commenter noted, “but the loss of consumers tells the truth.” Many readers took to social media to share that sentiment and to cast doubts about Ivanka’s stated motivations for shutting down the brand.

Other readers took issue with Trump’s intention to buckle down in Washington. “Please keep the fashion line and leave the White House,” one commenter said. “What work is she doing in Washington?” another added.

Not all Yahoo commenters, however, were out for blood. Some were impressed that Trump’s small company was able to subsist as it did for so long: “She made 80 million last year, and is laying off 18 employees … think about that for a moment.”

Others on Twitter took the move as a positive commitment — one of many they say they’ve seen from the family:

What do you think?

Let us know in the comments.

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