In a sea of confusing news from members of the Trump family, one announcement came with very little political dispute: Tiffany Trump graduated from Law School this week. To congratulate her on her degree, President Trump took to Twitter to write a simple message: "Congratulations to my daughter, Tiffany." So far so good, right? Well, that tweet happened to come on a day when members of the Trump family were named in a lawsuit for alleged charity fraud. Tiffany Trump, who is now a law school graduate and was among the only one of her siblings unnamed in the suit, suddenly became the subject of a very different type of congratulation on Twitter.
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“Great student, great school. Just what I need is a lawyer in the family. Proud of you Tiff!” Trump tweeted on Wednesday. Twitter users were quick to riff off of the president’s tweet, using the lawsuit and Tiffany's absence from it in a series of clap backs at the President.
“Congratulations Tiffany on being the only adult Trump child to not be penalized for charity fraud,” wrote comedian John Fugelsang. Singer Ricky Dávila also congratulated Tiffany on "being the only Trump not being scrutinized for fraud.” As a result of the ongoing replies, "Congratulations Tiffany" quickly became a top trend on Twitter.
It looks like she learned something, too-she was the only one of your adult children not listed in the fraud lawsuit that will now proceed thanks to the Second Circuit! Congratulations Tiffany! https://t.co/idAooQJ64Y
— Amee Vanderpool (@girlsreallyrule) May 20, 2020
But the lawsuit implicated within the tweets involving Tiffany Trump are more grave than the parody of this trend may appear. The lawsuit was originally filed in October 2018 and on Monday, a federal judge allowed it to proceed. The suit names Donald Trump, three of his adult children, Donald Trump, Jr., Eric Trump, and Ivanka Trump, and the family’s company, and alleges that they used a fraudulent marketing scheme to entice investors.
The lawsuit says that Trump and his three eldest kids used The Celebrity Apprentice, among other promotional events and appearances, to bolster ANC Opportunity. The company is linked to a nonprofit that CNN reports used the Trump brand to appeal to teens. Also alleged in the suit is that the Trumps profited off poor and vulnerable people by promising them the opportunity to “pursue the American dream.”
All of those named were formally accused of deliberately misleading people about the likelihood of success for their investments and the lawsuit noted "a pattern of racketeering activity."
"Weighing the two 'most critical' factors — likelihood of success on the merits and irreparable harm — against each other, any prejudice that Defendants and ACN may suffer from proceeding with the litigation during the pendency of the appeal does not outweigh the strong likelihood that Defendants and ACN will not succeed on appeal," U.S. District Court Judge Lorna Schofield wrote in her opinion.
The timing of the president’s comment about needing “a lawyer in the family” was not lost on Twitter users, many of whom also noted that none of the Trumps congratulated Tiffany on graduation until they were criticized for it. It’s unclear whether Tiffany has seen the tweets, or even received her father's very public message to her, but if she hasn't, she's in for quite the Twitter journey.