Guys, relax. Take alook at what this says. First, it's from Axios. Do you trust that site as unbiased? Start there.
Now:
Behind the scenes: Ivanka Trump spoke last Wednesday to Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), while he was vacationing in Hawaii, to get an update on the bipartisan background checks bill he proposed with Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Penn.).
The measure, which was initially introduced in 2013 after the Sandy Hook shooting, would expand background checks to nearly all commercial firearm sales.
"She called Manchin and said she was trying to get a sense of what bills are out there," a Manchin aide told Axios. "She had him explain how they drafted the bill, where it stands and what changes needed to be made in order for it to pass."
But she didn't signal a White House position.
The call followed President Trump's own conversations with Manchin last Monday and Tuesday, first reported by the WashPost, in which he told the senator that he wanted legislation before the Senate returns from recess in September.
The backdrop: Following the mass shootings, Ivanka Trump posted a note on her Instagram story calling on Congress to "enact Red Flag laws/Extreme Risk Protection Orders in every state, increase resources dedicated to mental health support nationwide and close background check loopholes."
"You can strongly support and defend the 2nd Amendment while calling for these common sense, and long-overdue reforms," she concluded
She later reiterated that call to action on Twitter.
A White House official said Ivanka "has trusted relationships on both sides of the aisle and she is working in concert with the White House policy and legislative teams.".
IF ( and only IF) this is accurate, what do we see? Ivan called manchin to get him to explain how they drafted the billed and why it didn't pass. In other words, you COULD see that as a way to find out what stalled it and how to attack it.
She didn't signal a WH position. Got that? Neither promoted or condemned it. Makes it more of a fact finding mission to see what the other side is up to.
Also, wanted to get the pulse on Manchin not to sit on this, and to get out pronto. You could read that as introduce it so we can kill it again.
Ivanka "has trusted relationships on both sides of the aisle and she is working in concert with the White House policy and legislative teams." This means people will talk to her when they don't want the MSM to know they are working with Trump directly.
This is politics, people.