Trump Names Kellyanne Conway As “Counselor To The President”

Conway Named “Counselor To The President” In Trump Administration. President-elect Donald Trump announced on December 22 that Kellyanne Conway “will join the White House as counselor to the president” after having served as his “campaign manager and as a senior adviser to the president-elect’s transition team,” according to The Washington Post. Conway “will be part of the senior leadership team in the West Wing with responsibility for messaging and other priorities.” [The Washington Post, 12/22/16]

Conway Has A History Of Contentious Statements

Conway: Homosexuality Is A “Corrupting” Influence, People “Don’t Want Their Kids Looking At A Cartoon With A Bunch Of Lesbian Mothers.” After a 2005 episode of PBS’ Postcards from Buster featured a lesbian couple, Kellyanne Conway expressed outrage, asserting that it’s not an issue of “right versus left, but right versus wrong” and adding that people “don’t want their kids looking at a cartoon with a bunch of lesbian mothers.” Conway then said “regular Americans are standing up and saying … ‘I try to protect my kids from outside, external influences corrupting their minds and their bodies.’” [Media Matters, 2/17/05]

Conway: “Political Correctness” Could Lead To “Two Planes Crashing In The Sky.” Conway argued in 2007 that “political correctness has made us appoint” people to positions they don’t deserve and could lead to “two air traffic controllers who don’t speak great English” and “two planes crashing in the sky.” Conway claimed “that’s not a dramatic example. That’s what happens with slippery slopes.” From the November 19, 2007, edition of Fox News’ The O’Reilly Factor:

LAURA INGRAHAM: Here's a question I have for you. What stops, Kellyanne Fitzpatrick [Conway], a lawsuit, an EEOC lawsuit against, you know, public schools?

KELLYANNE CONWAY: Nothing.

INGRAHAM: You know, public schools who demand that kids learn English. I mean, that's discriminatory. Why should they learn English?

CONWAY: There's nothing at the moment. And in fact, what starts out as maybe the person doesn't speak English, getting -- putting mayonnaise instead of mustard as you requested on your sandwich is one day going to blossom into two air traffic controllers who don't speak great English because political correctness has made us appoint them to those positions. They're going to have two planes crashing in the sky. And that's not a dramatic example. That's what happens with slippery slopes.

By the way, English empowers employees. This is not just to protect you and me. This is to protect them. Don't you want this person, Tammy [Fox-Isicoff, panelist and immigration lawyer], to understand “Building on fire, get out”? It's to protect them as well. [Media Matters, 11/20/07]

Conway Advised Former Senatorial Candidate Todd Akin To Weather Criticism Over “Legitimate Rape” Comments Just Like Infamous Waco Cult Leader Withstood A Standoff With The ATF. In comments made to Family Research Council president Tony Perkins, Conway said that Republicans should support 2012 Republican candidate for Senate in Missouri, Todd Akin, through the backlash over his “legitimate rape” comments. Conway suggested Akin should weather the attacks against him like Waco compound cult leader David Koresh, who engaged in a standoff with the ATF that led to over eighty deaths:

TONY PERKINS: The distance between them is narrowing, Todd Akin has bounced back up, and the evidence of that is pretty clear because now you see other Republicans who abandoned him are now taking a second look at the race and realizing just how important this seat is.

KELLYANNE CONWAY: They are and they’re following your lead Tony. You saw former speaker Gingrich there on Todd’s behalf at a fundraiser on Monday, saying it’s just “conventional idiocy” that’s preventing people from backing Todd, and he predicts that come mid-October everyone will be following yours and his lead back to Missouri, with their money. Of course, former senator and presidential candidate Rick Santorum and Senator Jim DeMint came out just yesterday to support Todd. I believe that the establishment will have to look at this race and they will have to hold their nose because the first days—and I’ve expressed this to Todd as my client for a while now, I’ve expressed it to him directly—the first day or two where it was like the Waco with David Koresh situation where they’re trying to smoke him out with the SWAT teams and the helicopters and the bad Nancy Sinatra records. Then here comes day two and you realize the guy’s not coming out of the bunker. Listen, Todd has shown his principle to the voters. [Right Wing Watch, 9/28/16]

Conway: “Revulsion Towards Men” Is “Part And Parcel Of The Feminist Movement.” In a 2011 address to the conservative Clare Booth Luce Foundation and the Heritage Foundation, Conway argued that “revulsion towards men in your life” is “part and parcel of the feminist movement.” Conway also characterized feminism as “doom and gloom” and argued, “If women want to be taken seriously in the workforce, looking feminine is a good place to start.” [Jezebel, 7/1/16]

Conway Falsely Claimed That “Baby Girls [Are] Being Killed Just Because They’re Girls” In The United States. Conway falsely claimed that “little baby girls [are] being killed just because they’re girls in this country,” but was quickly fact-checked by CNN host Anderson Cooper who replied, “statistically, there’s not really much evidence that that is actually occurring in the United States.” Cooper followed up after a break, quoting a Guttmacher Institute report that debunked Conway’s claim. From the August 21, 2012 edition of CNN’s AC360:

ANDERSON COOPER (HOST): Kellyanne, [Todd] Akin has run shoestring campaigns before. Right now it seems like there’s only two groups who want Akin to stay in this race, Akin himself, I guess and his family and some supporters, and his Democratic opponent, Claire McCaskill. That pretty much sends a loud and clear message to him. Do you think he’s going to get that message?

KELLYANNE CONWAY: Well, the deadline passed today, he basically has until September 25 to plead his case to a judge and take himself off the ballot. But, I’ll just repeat what Congressman Akin said today in the press, which is where I read it, that he’s going to stay in the race. On this broader point of the GOP platform, that’s been in the platform -- that’s been in the plank of the platform for as long as I can remember. And what Paul [Begala] is saying that it doesn’t really reflect what most Americans think, we all know that polling has been showing many people in this country want restrictions on abortion, and I think we need to talk about the extremes on the left as well. They got some pressure, The Washington Post reported on August 10, that there are Democrats who are going to the convention in Charlotte who want their plank expanded. They feel it is too draconian, it doesn’t allow for partial birth abortion bans, it doesn’t ban sex-selection, you’ve got all these little baby girls being killed just because they’re girls in this country--

COOPER: Wait, wait, excuse me, where is that happening?

CONWAY: Excuse me?

COOPER: You said we have all these baby girls being killed in this country because -- on sex-selections on abortions, where is the evidence on that?

CONWAY: The Guttmacher Institute, which is the research arm of Planned Parenthood, has data on sex-selective abortions. And actually Congress -- the House just passed a bill to ban that. I’m not sure it ever went to the Senate, and I’m sure President Obama would veto it if was put on his desk --

COOPER: But statistically, there’s not really much evidence that that is actually occurring in the United States. Among some immigrant groups in small numbers, it may be occurring, but in no statistical measure is it significant.

CONWAY: Well we should look at the Guttmacher Institute statistics to really illuminate us on that. But it does -- it does occur because there's so much science now, people can, they can know the gender of their baby and they make their choices accordingly.

COOPER: Right, it occurs overseas a lot, but again, I don’t think the evidence is here in the United States.

[...]

COOPER: Before the break, Kellyanne, you mentioned the Guttmacher Institute information on sex-selective abortion in the United States. Here’s what they actually say in a May 30 press release, titled “Sex-Selective Abortion Bans -- A Disingenuous New Strategy to Limit Women’s Access to Abortion.” The study acknowledges the practice does go on overseas, as we mentioned, and perhaps in certain Asian-American communities in the United States in small numbers, but quote, “In the United States, meanwhile, there is limited data indicating that sex-selective abortion may be occurring in some Asian communities, although the U.S. sex ratio, at 1.05 males for every female, is squarely within biologically normal parameters.” [CNN, AC360, 8/21/12]

Conway Equated Referencing Someone’s Sexual Orientation To Saying “Your Daughter Is A Slut.” While addressing Sen. John Kerry’s 2004 debate reference to the fact that Dick Cheney’s daughter, Mary, is a lesbian, Conway compared being a lesbian to being a slut, stating that with his comments Kerry was trying to get “someone to say, ‘your daughter is a slut.’” From the October 16, 2004, edition of Fox News’ Fox & Friends Saturday:

KELLYANNE CONWAY: All he [Kerry] has to do, Mike, is say “I'm sorry,” and he won't say it.

MIKE GALLAGHER (HOST): Robert, right, would you agree with that? It's a distraction that the Kerry campaign would've preferred not to have to deal with.

ROBERT ZIMMERMAN: It's George [W.] Bush and Dick Cheney who keep making this an issue now, after the debate. They keep raising it in sound bite after sound bite.

CONWAY: John Kerry wants someone to say, “Your daughter is a slut,” or “We want you to open up the divorce records.”

ZIMMERMAN: Oh, my goodness.

CONWAY: Exactly. Doesn't that shock you?

ZIMMERMAN: How can you compare the issue of being a gay person to being a slut?

CONWAY: It's someone's sexuality, it's off limits, and you guys made it that way, just as we don't want to talk about it. [Media Matters, 10/20/04]

Conway: Hillary Clinton “Wasn’t Popular Until Her Husband Treated Her Like A Doormat.” When speculating about whether Hillary Clinton would campaign for a Senate seat in 2004, Conway stated, “people still feel very sorry for” Clinton, adding that she “invokes pity and sympathy.” Conway concluded that Clinton “wasn’t popular until her husband treated her like a doormat and then she became popular.” [CNN, Crossfire, accessed via Nexis, 12/30/02]

Conway: “Hillary Clinton Could Not Stand Up To A Cheating Husband, So How In The World Would She Stand Up To North Korea And Some Of Our Other Enemies?” According to USA Today, Conway appeared on MSNBC in April 2005 and “offered a possible preview of 2008 attack rhetoric,” saying “The fact is that Hillary Clinton could not stand up to a cheating husband, so how in the world would she stand up to North Korea and some of our other enemies around the globe?" From USA Today’s January 2007 article:

Already The New York Times and other publications have run articles about the state of the Clintons' marriage. Republican pollster Kellyanne Conway offered a possible preview of 2008 attack rhetoric on MSNBC in April 2005: “The fact is that Hillary Clinton could not stand up to a cheating husband, so how in the world would she stand up to North Korea and some of our other enemies around the globe?” [USA Today, 1/22/07]

Prior To Joining His Campaign, Conway Attacked Trump For “Untrue” And “Unpresidential” Comments

Conway: Trump “Says He's For The Little Guy But He's Actually Built A Lot Of His Businesses On The Backs Of The Little Guy.” Conway stated that Trump had “actually built a lot of his business on the backs of the little guy” and has a history of “not paying contractors after [they have helped him] build something,” adding that “the little guys have suffered” because of Trump. From the February 10 edition of CNN Newsroom with Carol Costello:

KELLYANNE CONWAY: Before the victims of his elevated kind of talk, they were unions and they were Democrats, and they were people who were living off the system. But then it looked like it was commuters and everyday people. And I think that's actually something that could hurt Trump in South Carolina and beyond if people start to see that he's not -- he says he's for the little guy, but he's actually built a lot of his businesses on the backs of the little guy and he's a lot of little guys through eminent domain, or through not paying contractors after you’ve built something. The little guys have suffered. [CNN, CNN Newsroom with Carol Costello, 2/10/16]

Conway: Trump Victims Include “Victims Of Trump University, Victims Of Trump In Atlantic City.” Conway praised anti-Trump messaging, saying it’s that “gotten better” because people are “starting to talk about victims of Trump University, victims of Trump in Atlantic City.” Conway also continued highlighting Trump’s hypocrisy in claiming that he is “for the little guy,” when really he has built his business “on the backs of the little guy.” From the March 8 edition of CNN’s At This Hour:

KELLYANNE CONWAY: For Trump, the debates are fraught with peril. Because now the question is going to be about these Trump victims. The reason the messaging has gotten better since Alex’s barnburner of an article two weeks ago is they’re starting to talk about victims of Trump University, victims of Trump in Atlantic City. Before that it was his conservative apostasies, now it’s actually you’re for the little guy but you’ve built your business on the backs of the little guy. [CNN, At This Hour, 3/8/16]

Conway: “I Would Like To See” Trump’s Tax Returns “Be Transparent.” Conway criticized Trump’s failure to release his tax returns, saying, “I would like to see those be transparent.” She also castigated Trump’s “unpresidential” rhetoric, referencing the time when he “insulted [his opponents] as ‘lying Ted’ and John Kasich ‘who eats like this slob.’” From the April 25 edition of CNN Tonight with Don Lemon:

DON LEMON (HOST): So, I want to ask you about this alliance between, you first, Kellyanne, between John Kasich and Ted Cruz, this alliance, shall we say, that Donald Trump is calling collusion, is this fair game?

KELLYANNE CONWAY: Of course it's fair game.

LEMON: Are they playing by the rules here?

CONWAY: Oh, absolutely. It's completely transparent. Donald Trump's tax returns aren't, I would like to see those be transparent.

[...]

And I think instead of worrying about them and insulting them as ‘lying Ted’ and John Kasich ‘who eats like this slob’ and everything else that was said today, which is fairly unpresidential, I think he should just ignore them. I mean if he wasn’t worried about them, why not just ignore these two people he thinks aren’t actual competitors? I actually think they got under his skin today. [CNN, CNN Tonight, 4/25/16]

Conway Condemned Trump For “Hurl[ing] Personal Insults” And Using “Vulgar” Language That Was “Unfortunate For Children.” Conway reprimanded Trump for using “the p-word” at a rally, language she characterized as “unfortunate for children,” and claimed that voters “will think thrice now when they go into the ballot box.” From the February 9 edition of CNN Newsroom with Carol Costello:

KELLYANNE CONWAY: And I think that was a great try, Scottie [Nell Hughes]. But it's vulgar. And this is the equivalent, really, in New Hampshire of Donald Trump skipping the debate in Iowa. It cost him votes, and I think people will think thrice now when they go into that ballot box and say, “Look, I tried to send a message all along to Donald Trump, to the establishment, but now I got to get serious about sending somebody to the White House. And do I want somebody who hurls personal insults or who goes and talks about philosophical differences?”

[...]

You screaming at me and trying to hog all the airtime is not going to take back the p-word from last night, which was unfortunate for children and otherwise. [CNN, CNN Newsroom with Carol Costello, 2/9/16]

Conway: Trump “Can Whine And Complain” By Saying “The System Is Rigged,” But “There’s No Place In Politics For Accusing Folks Of Using Gestapo Tactics.” Conway mocked Trump’s complaints after he lost the Colorado primary that “the system is rigged, the system is corrupt,” sayng, “You can whine and complain all you want,” but “you didn’t know the rules.” She also attacked the Trump campaign’s claim that Colorado winner Sen. Ted Cruz used “Gestapo tactics,” saying “there’s no place in politics” for those comments. Conway also denounced Trump ally Roger Stone for attempting to intimidate delegates, saying Trump should tell him “to cut the crap.” From the April 13 edition of CNN Tonight with Don Lemon:

DON LEMON (HOST): Is the Trump campaign intimidating people do you think, Kellyanne?

KELLYANNE CONWAY: It seems like they're trying to. There's a great article today in The Washington Post by Ed O’Keefe, Don, and he really laid out the facts of what happened this weekend. So, we hear from the Trump campaign, rules, the rules changed, it's not fair, the system is rigged, the system is corrupt, and by extension to Colorado delegates it would be corrupt who participated in it, I suppose.

And yet, very clearly it was laid out there that Steven House, who is the party chair of Colorado, has received over 3,000 calls since the convention, all of them nasty and he posted on Facebook, “When I hear about burials and my family mentioned in the same sentence, this isn't politics, this isn't democracy, this is crazy.”

And so, you can whine and complain all you want, that you didn't know the rules, you changed the rules. I would just also say there's analysis today that Donald Trump’s won 35 percent of the popular vote but 40 percent -- 42 percent of the delegates already.

So, apparently they like the rules -- they like those rules. But look, there's no place in politics, and I hope Kayleigh will back me up on this, no place in politics for people accusing folks of using Gestapo tactics, the Gestapo that was Nazi tactics. And they took people and killed them. And I don't like this kind of references in politics just because your team can’t get their life together in Colorado.

​[...]

CONWAY: Wouldn’t you love to see, no, you know what you'd love to see, Kayleigh, Donald Trump stand up and say, “Roger Stone cut the crap. Stop threatening people and their lives.” That's not democracy.​ [CNN, CNN Tonight, 4/13/16]

Conway Accused The Trump Campaign Of Becoming Too “Cozy With The Establishment”: “Goodness, You’ve Hired Paul Manafort.” Conway charged the Trump campaign with “becoming a little cozy with the establishment” by hiring Paul Manafort as chairman. From the April 4 edition of CNN’s At This Hour:

BARRY BENNETT: The establishment’s love of Ted Cruz recently which, once they get to the convention, they’ll be like, “Ted who?” But, anyway, it kind of plays in our favor. It looks like he’s a part of the establishment when he does this. Which is -- I think it’s working against him to a certain extent.

KELLYANNE CONWAY: Goodness, you've hired Paul Manafort, who ran the convention for Ronald Reagan in 1976.

BENNETT: I don’t think Paul Manafort is a hired employee, Kellyanne.

CONWAY: No, I think he's part of the establishment, though. And just this afternoon, on Twitter, it was revealed that your delegates in New Jersey include Governor Christie, one of his sons, and half of the county chairs. I think you're becoming --

BENNETT: A former United States Senator and another former governor too.

CONWAY: You're becoming a little cozy with the establishment because you need to. [CNN, At This Hour, 4/5/16]

Conway: Trump's “False” Accusations About The Cruz Campaign Show “The Danger Of Just Saying Things That Aren't True." Conway rebuked Trump for lobbing “personal insults at somebody’s wife” as well as for his accusations that Cruz was “committing a felony and breaking a law,” adding that such a comment reveals “the danger of just saying things that aren’t true.” From the April 6 edition of CNN’s Erin Burnett Outfront:

KELLYANNE CONWAY: Ours is the only pro-Cruz super PAC that's recognized by the Cruz campaign as a super PAC. And I -- it's blatantly false and it's very hurtful. It's actually very disappointing because I think when you lose a primary, you just say, “This is a bad day for the home team,” and you move on. You graciously say congratulations and you say, “I'll see you on my home turf in New York.”

But look, it's one thing to hurl personal insults at somebody's wife, and that cost Mr. Trump dearly in Wisconsin and dearly among women voters all across this country. Read the polls. Mr. Trump loves the polls. You live by the polls, you die by the polls.

But it is quite another to accuse Ted Cruz himself and professionals who have been at this long as you have, Ed, practically, of committing a felony and breaking a law. We could just brush it off, but it shows you the danger of just saying things that aren't true and getting people to believe it and getting 20,000 people at a rally today to just lap it up as if it's true. [CNN, Erin Burnett Outfront, 4/6/16]

Conway: Unlike Trump, “Pro-Life Candidates” “Don’t Need Four Or Five Times To Get It Right.” Conway disavowed Trump’s suggestion that there should be some form of punishment for women who have abortions, arguing that he had “upended” decades of work by pro-lifers, and she implied that real pro-life candidates “would have gotten [the question] right the first time.” She also criticized Trump’s “free earned media coverage” and said, “If you live by the media questions, sometimes you have to die by the media questions.” From the March 30 edition of CNN Tonight with Don Lemon:

DON LEMON (HOST): People are not going to throw any presidential candidate softballs, Kellyanne.

KELLYANNE CONWAY: No, they're not, nor should they. I mean, look at just last night, Anderson Cooper in this town hall in Wisconsin. He was tough but never rude. I mean, if you want to be commander in chief and president of the United States, president of the free world, you're going to be asked tough questions.

But I have to just say as a pro-lifer with many pro-life candidates who are very disappointed, pro-life causes are very disappointed today. They don't need four or five times to get it right. They would have gotten it right the first time.

Because the pro-life community is one mind on this. You do not punish the woman. She is looked upon as a victim. There are two victims if you're a pro-lifer, there are two victims, the woman and her unborn child. They are of a single mind. They came out very strongly today, and many of them feel like their work over many years, if not decades, was upended. And the attempt by Cecile Richards on Twitter today, through Planned Parenthood by Hillary Clinton earlier is disingenuous to say that this is how they all feel. That is completely false. And so I think that it does not take four or five times.

And let's be honest, Kayleigh. Mr. Trump has gotten $2 billion worth of free earned media coverage so far, according to The Washington Post analysis recently. So, if you live by the media questions, sometimes you have to die by the media questions and sometimes it's not just a good day for the home team. [CNN, CNN Tonight, 3/30/16]