Ivanka Trump has been is facing fierce backlash online for her 'obtuse' suggestion that people should have fun indoor campouts while at home with their kids as parents across the country struggle with childcare and layoffs amid the coronavirus pandemic.
The White House adviser, who is currently working from home amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, urged parents to enjoy some fun ways to spend time with their children while quarantined.
The US President’s First Daughter posted some throwback photos on Twitter and Instagram on 17 March, showing an indoor campout she had with her daughter Arabella and son Joseph when they were much younger.
In her caption, Ivanka Trump suggested that parents “plan a living room camp out” as a way to ward off coronavirus concerns and look on the bright side of “social distancing” that is part of the new reality generated by the spread of the coronavirus respiratory disease.
However, Ivanka Trump’s playful photos failed to generate the enthusiastic response they aimed for, judging by the backlash they garnered online.
Social media erupted with scorn over the frivolous pics at a time when working parents have been hard pressed to find childcare amidst closed schools and childcare centers around the country, with many employees laid off and others losing wages as fallout from the disease-sparked crisis.
Others on social media posted photos of people huddling in tents, sarcastically asking if “they were doing it right?’
Some posted sarcastic comments in response to the First Daughter’s call to “bring family together”.
Other netizens, however, took the time to post their praise for the US President’s daughter.
The COVID-19 coronavirus has now been identified in all 50 US states, and more than 100 deaths in the country have been linked to the respiratory disease.
As of Wednesday morning, at least 5,881 people across every state including Washington, D.C., and three US territories, have tested positive for coronavirus, according to a New York Times database.
Worldwide, there are currently 203, 529 confirmed cases of infection, with the death toll at 8, 205, according to the data from the Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE).