Kellyanne Conway Appears at RNC to Tout Trump Days After Announcing Surprise White House Exit
Kellyanne Conway speaking Wednesday night at the Republican National Convention.
White House counselor Kellyanne Conway appeared at the Republican National Convention on Wednesday night to speak glowingly of her soon-to-be-former boss, President Donald Trump.
She looked back at the 100 years since the passage of the 19th Amendment, which gave women the right to vote, and she linked that advancement with Trump's record.
"This has been a century worth celebrating but also a reminder that our democracy is young and fragile," she said. "A woman in a leadership role can still seem novel. Not so for President Trump."
Though Trump has a long history of sexist and deeply personal attacks on women he dislikes and has been accused of sexual misconduct by more than a dozen women (which he denies), his senior adviser on Wednesday spoke of her personal experience around him.
Conway thanked him for "empowering me to manage his [2016] campaign," which made her the first woman to run a successful presidential bid. And she spoke of being "raised in household of all women" and the lessons they taught.
"I learned in America, limited means do not make for limited dreams," she said. "The promise of America belongs to us all."
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Three days earlier, Conway, 53, made the surprise announcement that she would leave the Trump administration to focus on her family. On Sunday night, she said in a statement that she'll step down from her role as counselor to the president at the end of the month.
Her husband, attorney and noted Trump critic George Conway, similarly announced his exit from a political action group targeting the president. The Conways, who share four children, said their decision was made so they could focus on their family.
"We disagree about plenty but we are united on what matters most: the kids," Kellyanne said in her Sunday statement. "Our four children are teens and ‘tweens starting a new academic year, in middle school and high school, remotely from home for at least a few months."
Kellyanne said her next steps would be announced later but, "for now, and for my beloved children, it will be less drama, more mama."
The couple's 15-year-old daughter, Claudia, had developed a viral following on TikTok this summer by staunchly criticizing Trump. Claudia’s dad later called for her privacy from the spotlight, citing her age. Claudia has continued to post publicly about turmoil at home, including in a tweet this weekend about seeking "emancipation."
Matt Rourke/AP/REX/Shutterstock From left: Kellyanne Conway and George Conway in January 2017
Kellyanne’s Wednesday night RNC speech left little doubt about her public support for the president's time in office and whether he should be re-elected come November. (Trump will face Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden.)
Trump, Kellyanne said, "picks the toughest fights and tackles the most complex problems. He has stood by me, and he will stand up for you."
Kellyanne is one of the president's longest-serving White House advisers and is also one of his most recognizable defenders on TV— controversial for coining terms like "alternative facts" while spinning the Trump administration's falsehoods and raising ethical concerns by giving a "free commercial" for Ivanka Trump's products.
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Her public loyalty to Trump and his family — as well as her and her husband's disagreements over politics — have been repeatedly satirized on Saturday Night Live. (George Conway endorsed Biden for president earlier this year.)
Elsewhere in the White House, Kellyanne has worked on the federal government's response to opioid addiction, which she spoke about Wednesday, and she's also played a role in communications with the public.
