Chelsea Clinton, 42, is shedding some light on what her relationship with former friend Ivanka Trump, 40, was really like. During a Sept. 8 appearance on Andy Cohen‘s Watch What Happens Live, she revealed that she and the daughter of former president Donald Trump, 76, were certainly “friends” at one point. “I mean, she’s not the person I called when I was curious about something for my kids or was debating a life decision, but we were definitely friends,” she told the Bravo producer.
.@ChelseaClinton on Ivanka Trump: "We were definitely friends and then she went to the dark side." #WWHL pic.twitter.com/WeyYInlWmI
— WWHL (@BravoWWHL) September 9, 2022
Right before he asked another question, she added, “And then she went to the dark side.” Chelsea also noted that she has not spoken to Ivanka since Nov. 2016, when Donald was elected as the 45th president of the United States over her mother, Hillary Clinton, 74. Chelsea was on Watch What Happens Live with her mother to promote their new Apple TV+ docuseries, Gutsy.
Chelsea’s statements are a far cry from when she told People in 2015: that her and Ivanka’s political differences would never bitter their relationship. “Friendship is always more important than politics,” she said, using her parents’ positive interactions “with people across the political spectrum in Arkansas” as her guide.
However, her statements match those she made on WWHL in 2020. “I’ve not spoken to [Ivanka] since 2016,” Chelsea noted. “I have no interest in being friends with someone who is not only complicit, but actively taking part in this administration’s everyday collision of cruelty and incompetence. So, that’s the answer.”
When Andy asked about how much they interacted during the campaign, she added, “We were in touch at the beginning of the campaign, but it’s just really hard when there’s someone who’s actively embracing their candidate, whether it’s their father or not, who is trafficking in racism and sexism and anti-Semitism and Islamophobia and homophobia and transphobia and conspiracy theories and lies, and is so fundamentally corrupt.” She concluded, “I don’t want to be friends with someone like that.”
Both women worked on their respective parent’s presidential campaigns. When Donald won the election, Ivanka served as his senior adviser.