#Ivanka Trump, Tim Cook urge laid-off workers to ‘find something new’

First daughter Ivanka Trump and Apple CEO Tim Cook on Tuesday urged workers who are unhappy with their jobs or unemployed due to the coronavirus pandemic to “find something new.”

The seemingly simplistic advice launched with a national ad campaign and the website findsomethingnew.org, which links to IT training services and apprenticeships.

“We hope that it enables so many people out there to really embark on a new journey and realize their full potential,” Trump said in a video conference announcing the effort.

The initiative’s ad features unhappy or laid-off workers saying they were retrained for more satisfying jobs. “You have more options than you think,” one says.

Cook, who has been praised by President Trump as “a great executive because he calls me and others don’t,” hawked the initiative as a potential source of social equality.

“This work has taken on new urgency in light of the COVID-19 pandemic and a renewed focus on opportunity, equality and racial justice,” Cook said.

The video conference featured testimonials from people who learned to code and took advantage of internships, online classes, medical training and apprenticeships.

Ivanka Trump, a White House adviser to her father, spoke from what appeared to be a personal office with framed photos on a table behind her. Cook, who President Trump once referred to as “Tim Apple,” spoke with a serene water view in the background.

Urging workers to find new careers carries political risk. Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden, for example, was accused of being insensitive when he urged coal miners to “learn to program” last year.

Some social media users jeered the new initiative, which follows the unemployment of tens of millions of people.

“Let them eat code,” one tweeted.