Donald Trump’s daughter Ivanka is being hammered after quoting Dolly Parton in an awkward social media tribute to the late country star.
Parton’s death at 80 was announced on Tuesday. In a statement to People, her representatives said the “9 to 5″ singer died following a “brief battle with cancer,” but did not disclose the type.
Ivanka, 44, joined in the online outpouring of love for Parton and her legacy. She said they had never met, but hailed her as a “peerless singer, incredible songwriter, gifted comic actress, tireless philanthropist, accomplished businesswoman and true original.”
However, a particular quote from Parton that Ivanka cited—“I don’t criticize and condemn; I love and accept”—created a backlash on her social media.
The businesswoman said the open-hearted quote had “resonated within me since I first heard it,” and noted she had also shared the “piece of wisdom” from Parton when she appeared on Lex Fridman’s podcast in 2024.
Commenters on Ivanka’s post quickly pointed out that her hot-tempered father does not follow Parton’s view on how people should be treated, citing his history of insulting his political opponents and also female reporters.
The president has a pattern of abusing female journalists doing their job, including asking CNN’s Kaitlan Collins why she “never smiles” multiple times and snarling “Quiet, piggy!” at Bloomberg News correspondent Catherine Lucey after she asked him about the Epstein files last year.
“Your father and brothers demonstrate precisely the opposite every hour of every day,” one user wrote to the president’s daughter. Another added, “Why don’t you tell your father who degrades women every day to follow that advice?”
Another comment pointed out Parton’s long support of the LGBTQ community, which has been under attack by the Trump administration.
The Daily Beast has contacted reps for Ivanka Trump and the White House for comment.
Ivanka’s Parton quote comes from an interview the country star gave while promoting the release of the 2023 song “Either Or” she recorded with MAGA favorite Kid Rock for her Rock Star album.
“Somebody was talking to me the other day, ‘How could you do this [song] with Kid?’” Parton told the Hollywood Reporter in 2023. “I said, ‘Hey, just because I love you don’t mean I don’t love Kid Rock. Just because I love Kid Rock don’t mean I don’t love you.’ I don’t condemn or criticize. I just accept and love.”
During the Fridman podcast, Ivanka even claimed Parton reminded her of her late mother, Ivana, who died in 2022.
“She’s so authentically herself, and she’s obviously so talented, and... she has no conflict within herself as to who she is. She reminds me a lot of my mom in that way,” she said.
“And she leads with a lot of, like, love and positivity.”
Trump’s daughter joined other MAGA figures who paid tribute to Parton, who admitted she never spoke about her political beliefs.
“I don’t like to get involved in politics, because first of all, I have as many Republican fans as I do Democrats,” Parton said in a 2020 interview with USA TODAY. “I don’t want to offend anybody, I have a right to myself.”
Conservative broadcaster Scott Jennings announced the news of Parton’s death on his radio show, calling it an “unfortunate task.”
MAGA figures including House Speaker Mike Johnson, Education Secretary Linda McMahon and second lady Usha Vance all received criticism in comments under tributes to the star.
Johnson wrote on X that Parton “used her extraordinary success to lift up countless others.” That saw one person reply, “She did more good for the citizens of this country all on her own than you clowns collectively ever will.”
Vance revealed in a post that she had used Parton’s charity that sent free books to children from birth to school.
“As four-time subscribers to Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library and lifelong fans of her music, our family knows that Dolly Parton loved a good story,” Vance wrote on X. “I hope that you’ll pick up a book and celebrate the magic of storytelling in her honor today.”
One user posted to Vance, “You do know that it’s Republicans who have banned books in this country right?”
McMahon also praised Parton’s Imagination Library, saying “she placed millions of books into the hands of young children and helped spark a lifelong love of reading.”
That prompted one user to remark that Trump’s administration had cut funding to libraries.
