Ivanka Trump Mocked for Defending Father with Fake de Tocqueville Quote
Ivanka Trump has been widely panned online for defending her father, President Donald Trump, by tweeting a fake quote from 19th century French diplomat Alexis de Tocqueville. The aristocrat is most famous in the U.S. for his book Democracy in America.
“A decline of public morals in the United States will probably be marked by the abuse of the power of impeachment as a means of crushing political adversaries or ejecting them from office,” Trump tweeted, citing the French viscount.
Twitter users, including historians, were quick to mock Trump’s invocation of de Tocqueville and then it emerged the quote wasn’t even real.
“A decline of public morals in the United States will probably be marked by the abuse of the power of impeachment as a means of crushing political adversaries or ejecting them from office.”
Alexis de Tocqueville, 1835
— Ivanka Trump (@IvankaTrump) November 21, 2019
It quickly became clear that this is a statement attributed to de Tocqueville in error. Trump apparently didn’t check.
She’s so uninformed & clueless
— Anushay Hossain (@AnushayHossain) November 22, 2019
Others used actual de Tocqueville quotes to rebut Trump’s defense of her father, who faces almost certain impeachment by the House of Representatives.
“What is to be feared is not so much the immorality of the great as the fact that immorality may lead to greatness…. An odious connection is thus formed between the ideas of turpitude and power, unworthiness and success, utility and dishonor.” —Alexis de Tocqueville https://t.co/zKjCo2Gl6I
— Windsor Mann (@WindsorMann) November 21, 2019
While historian and right-wing hate figure Kevin Kruse, who frequently tussles with Donald Trump’s defenders, suggested the 19th century viscount could not have imagined a president like Trump.
In fairness, Tocqueville probably couldn’t imagine that a “decline in public morals” might one day be marked by much more scandalous developments, like a president who openly bragged about sexual assaults and paid hush money to his mistresses.https://t.co/MZWiN9t0lR
— Kevin M. Kruse (@KevinMKruse) November 22, 2019
Ivanka Trump’s tweet was still live at the time of publication.
