Story highlights Ivanka Trump made a rare television appearance Monday morning

She is back in the spotlight for the White House's workforce development week

Washington (CNN) Ivanka Trump said Monday she is surprised by the "viciousness" of the media covering her father's presidency, referring to the growing "cloud" of distractions resulting from the Russia probe.

President Donald Trump's daughter and top adviser also said on "Fox & Friends" that her father felt "vindicated" by James Comey's testimony last week before the Senate intelligence committee, in which the former FBI director said there was no investigation into Trump personally during his time at the FBI.

"My father felt very vindicated in all the statements that he's been making and feels incredibly optimistic," she said. "With all the noise, with all the intensity of media coverage and obviously what makes headlines, ultimately, we're really focused on why the American people elected Donald Trump as president."

Asked whether it was hard to get things done in light of the ongoing Russia investigation , Trump admitted she was "a little blindsided" by distractions she attributed to media "ferocity."

"It is hard. And there is a level of viciousness that I was not expecting. I was not expecting the intensity of this experience, but this isn't supposed to be easy. My father and this administration intends to be transformative, and we want to do big, bold things and we're looking to change the status quo. So I didn't expect it to be easy. I think some of the distractions and some of the ferocity was — I was a little blindsided by on a personal level," she said.