When President Donald Trump handed over the reins of his real estate empire to his sons Eric and Donald Jr., critics charged that the decision was based on nepotism rather than merit.

“Nepotism is kind of a factor of life,” the president’s second oldest son told Forbes Tuesday. “We might be here because of nepotism, but we’re not still here because of nepotism. You know, if we didn’t do a good job, if we weren’t competent, believe me, we wouldn’t be in this spot.”