--- 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  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. Stephen Colbert Explains Why Ivanka Calls Trump "Daddy" ```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. Colbert had something to say about. it.","url":"https://time.com/4931490/colbert-ivanka-trump-daddy/","keywords":["Newsfeed","stephen colbert","Late Night Television"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Raisa Bruner","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4931490/colbert-ivanka-trump-daddy/","name":"Stephen Colbert Explains Why Ivanka Calls Trump 'Daddy' Perfectly"}}]}] ```