Donald Trump poses with his family after formally announcing his campaign for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination last June. From left: Eric Trump and his wife, Lara; Donald Trump; son Barron; Melania Trump; Vanessa Haydon and her husband, Donald Trump Jr., with children Kia Trump and Donald Trump III; Ivanka Trump and her husband, Jared Kushner; and Tiffany Trump.
In an appearance on “Fox & Friends” Monday morning, Donald Trump was asked about the fact that two of his five children, Ivanka and Eric Trump, are not registered to vote as Republicans in their home state of New York. Trump acknowledged this means they will not be able to vote for him in New York’s Republican presidential primary on April 19.
Records from the New York State Board of Elections show that neither Ivanka Trump nor Eric Trump is enrolled in a political party, a fact that was first reported by Yahoo News on April 4.
“They had a long time to register, and they were, you know, unaware of the rules, and they didn’t — they didn’t register in time. So they feel very, very guilty. They feel very guilty,” Donald Trump said. “But it’s fine. I mean, I understand that. I think they have to register a year in advance and they didn’t, so Eric and Ivanka, I guess, won’t be voting.” (Yahoo News found that, in addition to the fact they are not Republicans, both Ivanka and Eric Trump have donated money to Democratic candidates and committees.)
New York election law does not allow voters to change their party affiliation and vote as a member of a new party in the same year. Ivanka and Eric Trump would have needed to enroll as Republicans by October 14, 2015, to participate in the upcoming primary.
Trump’s campaign, which is staffed by relative political newcomers, has had some difficulties with rules and processes. At the Colorado State Republican Convention on Saturday, Trump’s top rival, Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, took all 17 delegates after Trump ran what NBC News described as “a disorganized and frustrated campaign plagued by mistakes.” Several other states held delegate selection events over the weekend, and Cruz similarly dominated the process.
Donald Trump with, from left, Eric Trump, Donald Trump Jr., and Ivanka Trump at a groundbreaking ceremony for the Trump International Hotel in Washington, D.C., in 2014.
Ivanka and Eric Trump have campaigned extensively for their father along with his oldest son, Donald Trump Jr., who is a registered Republican in New York. Trump has two other children, 10-year-old Barron, who is too young to vote, and 22-year-old Tiffany, who has not been as active on the campaign trail. Yahoo News could not find voting records for Tiffany. Ivanka and Eric did not respond to requests for comment about their registration status.
When he discussed Ivanka and Eric’s inability to back him in the New York primary on “Fox & Friends,” Trump was asked if he would be “cutting off their allowance.”
“Yes,” he quipped. “No more allowance.”
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