During her speech at the Republican National Convention (RNC) on Thursday night, White House advisor Ivanka Trump recalled her son, Joseph, building the White House out of Legos upon his grandfather’s entry into the Oval Office.
“When Jared and I moved with our three children to Washington, we didn’t exactly know what we were in for. But our kids loved it from the start,” she said. “My son Joseph promptly built grandpa a Lego replica of the White House. The president still displays it on the mantel in the Oval Office and shows it to world leaders, just so they know he has the greatest grandchildren on earth.”
Apparently, this admission was too much for some “journalists,” who then promptly began to question whether or not she falsified the story. Business Insider went so far as to enlist as many as two reporters, Sarah Al-Arshani and Jacob Shamsian, to thoroughly explore the alleged “scandal.”
“The story resembles another one Ivanka Trump has told about herself, as Andrea Bernstein, a WNYC reporter, said on Twitter,” reported Business Insider. “According to ‘American Oligarchs,’ a book Bernstein wrote about the Trump and Kushner families, Ivanka said in a 2007 interview with Conan O’Brien that she’d built a Lego replica of Trump Tower for her dad. She also said her brothers had contradicted her, each of them claiming to have built the Lego tower.”
“Bernstein also said the story was plagiarized from ‘The Art of the Deal,’ President Donald Trump’s best-selling book ghostwritten by Tony Schwartz,” the report continued. “Schwartz told Bernstein that the story was probably made up.”
Indeed, shortly after this non-story gained traction, Ivanka Trump posted to social media a photo of President Trump and his grandson with the Lego model.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CEbihj4B15y/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
Though it was conclusively proven that Joseph Trump built the Lego model, these “journalists” then began to question whether or not Trump actually kept the White House Lego model on display in the Oval Office.
“Our reporters are in the Oval Office nearly every day. None of them have ever seen the Lego White House,” tweeted Alex Wayne of Bloomberg.
Our reporters are in the Oval Office nearly every day. None of them have ever seen the Lego White House.
— Alex Wayne (@aawayne) August 28, 2020
“Recent photos show there’s no Lego White House replica on the Oval Office mantelpiece,” tweeted Jacob Shamsian.
– Recent photos show there's no Lego White House replica on the Oval Office mantelpiece (3/3) https://t.co/emg77A1v52
— Jacob Shamsian ⚖️ (@JayShams) August 28, 2020
A photo quickly began circulating of the White House Lego model on the table behind Trump’s desk, putting the “scandal” to rest:
I absolutely cannot believe that reporters are really trying to cast doubt on the validity of a 6 year old’s gift to his grandfather.
Be better. https://t.co/t3qIh9rWTo pic.twitter.com/uL42qJjpg1
— Carolina Hurley 45 Archived (@CLH45) August 28, 2020
People on social media were merciless in their attacks.
“Hi [Jacob]. Some reports suggest Ivanka’s son’s favorite toy is a Spider Man action figure. Others claim it’s a Paw Patrol doll. What are you hearing? Can you run this down and report back? Thank you for everything you do,” tweeted Matt Walsh.
“I don’t know I have it on good authority that it is actually rather simple to move a lego replica onto and off of shelves and mantlepieces. You should check if they used tax payer dollars to facilitate the move though. Real hard hitting stuff,” tweeted David Blair.