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Debra Messing calls on Ivanka Trump to 'stop' father Donald Trump in impassioned LGBT speech
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Debra Messing calls on Ivanka Trump to 'stop' father Donald Trump in impassioned LGBT speech

Debra Messing invoked her Jewish heritage during a speech at Sunday night's GLAAD Media Awards in an attempt to make an ally out of first daughter Ivanka Trump.

"There is someone I would like to make a direct appeal to this evening," Messing said while accepting the award for Excellence in Media. "Ivanka ... girlfriend ... what are you doing? C'mon, it's me, Deb. Let's talk for a second, one Jewish mother to another."

The former "Will & Grace" actress attended the GLAAD Excellence in Media Award, which is awarded to "media professionals who, through their work, have increased the visibility and understanding of the LGBTQ community."

Messing continued, and said that though she believed Ivanka to be a strong women, her role in the White House could be much greater in advancing the rights of women and minorities.

"It is not enough to simply say that women's issues are important to you," Messing said. "It's time to do something. Ivanka, you can change the lives of millions of women and children just by telling your dad stories about real people who are suffering. Don't let him separate immigrant mothers from their American-born children. Don't let him take health care away from women who need it. Don't allow him to make trans kids ... fight in court for their basic human dignity."

Messing's requests referenced the president's desire to deport illegal immigrants, pass the AHCA and roll back federal protections for transgender students in school.

"Ivanka, please, please stop blindly defending your father and start defending what you say you believe in," Messing continued. "You can’t just write '#womenwhowork' and think you're advancing feminism. You need to be a woman who does good work #saywhatyoumeanandmeanwhatyousay."

"Imagine how you’ll feel sitting at Passover Seder, if you can tell your children that you fought for justice and freedom," Messing pleaded, seeming to take a shot at the Trump family fortune. "It will make you feel richer than owning all the skyscrapers and golf courses in the world."

Ivanka became an official "assistant to the president" in March after she served as an unofficial adviser to her father on women's issues and education.

During an April interview with "CBS This Morning," Ivanka said, "I think that for me, this isn't about promoting my viewpoints. I wasn't elected by the American people to be president. My father is gonna do a tremendous job. And I wanna help him do that. But I don't think that it will make me a more effective advocate to constantly articulate every issue publicly where I disagree."

"I think most of the impact I have, over time most people will not actually know about," Ivanka maintained.

Messing's supplications to the first daughter, however, didn't sit well with some of the far right, and she was blasted on social media for taking Ivanka to task.

See some of the reactions below.

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Sarah Taylor

Sarah Taylor

Sarah is a former staff writer for TheBlaze, and a former managing editor and producer at TMZ. She resides in Delaware with her family. You can reach her via Twitter at @thesarahdtaylor.