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Ivanka Trump Makes Clear Her Father’s Child Care Plan Isn’t For Gay Dads

By
Lindsay Kimble
Lindsay Kimble
and
People
People
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By
Lindsay Kimble
Lindsay Kimble
and
People
People
Down Arrow Button Icon
September 15, 2016, 2:43 PM ET

This piece originally appeared on People.com.

No daddy daycare.

Ivanka Trump abruptly ended a Cosmopolitan.com phone interview on Wednesday after questions over her father Donald Trump‘s recently announced child care policies turned to “negativity,” in her words.

The policy, which Ivanka, 34, unveiled alongside the Republican presidential nominee in Pennsylvania on Tuesday, would give new moms six weeks of paid maternity leave, and also makes child care expenses tax-deductible for families that earn less than $50,000 annually. Further, it would establish tax-free accounts for families to use for child care and child enrichment activities.

Most of the plan’s focus, however, is on women, as reporter Prachi Gupta noted while questioning the mother-of-three.

“Why does this policy not include any paternity leave?” Gupta asked.

In response, Ivanka explained, “I think this takes huge advancement and obviously, for same-sex couples as well, there’s tremendous benefit here to enabling the mother to recover after childbirth. It’s critical for the health of the mother. It’s critical for bonding with the child, and that was a top focus of this plan.”

Ivanka said the plan would impact same-sex marriages if the couple had legal married status under tax code, but ruffled when pressed about unions of two men.

“The policy is fleshed out online, so you can go see all the elements of it,” she said. “But the original intention of the plan is to help mothers in recovery in the immediate aftermath of childbirth.”

Undeterred, Gupta pressed on: “For same-sex adoption, where the two parents are both men, they would not be receiving special leave for that because they don’t need to recover or anything?”

“Well, those are your words, not mine,” Ivanka responded. “Those are your words. The plan, right now, is focusing on mothers, whether they be in same-sex marriages or not.”

The interview was widely shared on social media, and even earned praise from Chrissy Teigen.

And…I'm dead. https://t.co/IAv5IfIBk3

— Prachi Gupta (@prachigu) September 15, 2016

Gupta also brought up past comments made by Donald to Ivanka – namely, a 2004 NBC interview in which he referred to pregnancy as an “inconvenience” to employers and business owners.

Ivanka replied, “I think you have a lot of negativity in these questions, and added. “So I don’t know how useful it is to spend too much time with you on this, if you’re going to make a comment like that.”

For more on Donald Trump, watch this Fortune video:

“My father has been a great advocate for the women in the workforce, and that’s part of why he recognized that reform is so necessary,” she also said before jumping off the phone shortly after.

Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton previously outlined her child care plan, proposing that new parents are guaranteed 12 weeks of paid family leave.

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By Lindsay Kimble
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By People
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