--- title: Stephen Colbert Explains Why Ivanka Calls Trump "Daddy" description: President Trump quoted his daughter as calling him "daddy" during a recent speech in North Dakota. Colbert had something to say about. it. canonical: https://time.com/4931490/colbert-ivanka-trump-daddy/ author: Raisa Bruner article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-09-07T14:34:55.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:47:04.985Z og:title: Stephen Colbert Explains Why Ivanka Calls Trump 'Daddy' og:description: It all comes back to Sean Spicer og:url: https://time.com/4931490/colbert-ivanka-trump-daddy/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Stephen Colbert Explains Why Ivanka Calls Trump 'Daddy' twitter:description: It all comes back to Sean Spicer twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # Stephen Colbert Explains Why Ivanka Calls Trump 'Daddy' Perfectly > Sponsored content. 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Every edition is assembled by TIME editors rather than generated automatically.  by [Raisa Bruner](https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/)  ## Raisa Bruner Sep 7, 2017 2:34 PM UTC  by [Raisa Bruner](https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/)  ## Raisa Bruner Sep 7, 2017 2:34 PM UTC Stephen Colbert took to his show Wednesday night to unpack President Trump’s comments at an event in North Dakota, where he shared an anecdote of a conversation with his daughter and [part-time seat-filler](http://time.com/4851103/donald-trump-ivanka-g20-summit-seat/), Ivanka. The bit that stands out: Trump’s use on the term “daddy,” when he quoted the First Daughter. But Colbert had an explanation for it. “By far, the most awkward moment — and for Trump, that’s a pretty high bar — was when he brought up Ivanka,” Colbert prefaced the [clip of Trump](http://time.com/4930337/donald-trump-ivanka-trump-tax-reform/). “Sometimes they’ll say, you know, he can’t be that bad a guy — look at Ivanka,” Trump says in the video. Then he turns to the side of the podium, beckoning for his 35-year-old daughter. “Now, come on up, honey,” he continues. “She’s so good. She wanted to make the trip. She said, ‘Dad, can I go with you?’ She actually said, ‘Daddy, can I go with you?’ I like that. ‘Daddy, can I go with you?’ I said, ‘Yes, you can.’” Colbert’s take on the widely covered “daddy” term is, as could be expected, satirical. “Not weird at all,” he joked. “All of Trump’s advisors call him ‘Daddy.’ [Sean Spicer](http://time.com/4868671/best-sean-spicer-memes/) is actually the one who started it.” Spicer was Trump’s embattled White House press secretary up until late July, when he resigned from his post. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4931490/colbert-ivanka-trump-daddy/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4931490/colbert-ivanka-trump-daddy/"},"headline":"Stephen Colbert Explains Why Ivanka Calls Trump 'Daddy' Perfectly","datePublished":"2017-09-07T14:34:55.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:47:04.985Z","description":"President Trump quoted his daughter as calling him \"daddy\" during a recent speech in North Dakota. 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