Ivanka Trump: 'I believe my father's denials' of sexual misconduct

Ivanka Trump: "I have that right as a daughter to believe my father"

Ivanka Trump says she finds it "pretty inappropriate" for a reporter to have asked if she believes the women who accuse her father of sexual misconduct.

"I don't think that's a question you would ask many other daughters," she replied when interviewed by NBC News.

Multiple women have accused Mr Trump of touching or kissing them without their consent before he became president. He has denied the accusations.

"I believe my father, I know my father," she said.

"So I think I have that right as a daughter to believe my father."

Ms Trump's comments, in an interview that aired on Monday, came at the end of the Winter Olympics in South Korea.

While there, she met South Korea's president to discuss new US sanctions against North Korea.

"I think it is a pretty inappropriate question to ask a daughter if she believes the accusers of her father when he has affirmatively stated that there is no truth to it," she responded after bristling at the question.

During the election, Mr Trump threatened to sue several of his accusers, but he never did.

Rachel Crooks, who says Mr Trump forcibly kissed her in 2006, tweeted: "I understand the unfortunate position someone would be in to have to admit their father is a misogynist and a sexual predator, but those who remain complicit in his actions are also part of the problem."

This is not the first time Ms Trump has been asked about her father's alleged record of harassment towards women.

• Ivanka Trump: America's first daughter

During a 2017 appearance in Berlin she was jeered by the audience after calling her father a "tremendous champion" of women's rights.

On social media, several conservatives pointed to former First Daughter Chelsea Clinton's 2008 response to a member of the public who asked her about her father Bill Clinton's affair with a White House intern.

Ivanka's duelling roles

Analysis by Anthony Zurcher, BBC Washington

Ivanka Trump is a senior adviser to the president, trusted to represent the US to foreign nations and an active voice in national policy deliberations. She's also Donald Trump's daughter. These duelling roles put her in an unusual grey area.

Presidential children have traditionally been treated with a fair amount of deference if they choose to stay out of the spotlight. The daughters of both George W Bush and Barack Obama were considered off-limits to the media, and violations of their privacy from some more aggressive corners of the media were quickly condemned.

Ivanka Trump, with her professional duties in the administration, has sought out that spotlight. With the attention, however, comes sometimes unpleasant questions. While she seems to feel comfortable talking about policy proposals, when her father's personal indiscretions come up, she seeks refuge in the longstanding White House familial privilege.

That's going to be a tough manoeuvre for her to pull off - particularly in the Trump era, where everything in politics seems to be fair game.

"I do not think that's any of your business," she said, when asked if Hillary Clinton's handling of the affair hurt her credibility.

One Twitter user said Ms Trump had "answered the very inflammatory & inappropriate questions from NBC perfectly".

Others said the media would never have posed a similar question to Chelsea Clinton.

But others pointed out that Chelsea Clinton did not have a formal role in the White House, unlike Ms Trump, who officially serves as assistant to the president.

Shortly before his election, Mr Trump was caught on tape boasting about grabbing women by the genitals in a 2005 recording.

Mr Trump admitted to the recording, but dismissed his language as harmless "locker room talk".

Following the election, after he reportedly expressed doubt about the tape's accuracy, the TV host who was present for Mr Trump's comments confirmed that he had said it.