Crash course on Kellyanne Conway
Kellyanne Conway, counselor to President Donald Trump, seems to be a magnet for controversy -- and quite keen on appearing on TV.
While it seems like her face is everywhere, and news stories about her aren’t in short supply, there’s probably a lot you don’t know about one of the most powerful people in the White House.
She has been criticized for "alternative facts"
Two days after Trump’s inauguration, Conway said in an interview that false statements made by White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer were simply “alternative facts.”
Weeks later, in defense of President Trump’s travel ban, she referenced a terror attack - “The Bowling Green Massacre” - that never happened. Conway responded that she was referring to “Bowling Green terrorists,” two men arrested for allegedly supporting insurgents in Iraq but who never made threats to American soil.
Her credibility was called into question
She was subsequently turned down for an interview at CNN and banned from bookings on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.”
The ban led to an SNL sketch in which Conway was portrayed as a desperate stalker by Kate McKinnon.
But the White House stood by her
Following her factual flubs, Conway’s comments over National Security Adviser Michael T. Flynn’s resignation clashed with other remarks coming from the White House.
Several news outlets reported that the White House had cut Conway off from appearing in television interviews, but a White House spokeswoman dismissed that notion.
She violated a federal ethics rule
After Nordstrom dropped Ivanka Trump’s line from its stores, Conway told Fox News viewers in February 2017 to “go buy it today.”
The quip drew scrutiny from the Office of Government Ethics.
Federal rules say a “a federal employee shall not use his public office for his own private gain, for the endorsement of any product, service or enterprise.”
But she wasn't disciplined
The Office of Government Ethics recommended that the White House discipline Conway, but the White House refused to do so, saying in a letter that she had “acted inadvertently and is highly unlikely to do so again.”
She inspires other criticism
Critics also have found fault with Conway for her clothes, such as the red, white, and blue Gucci coat she wore to the inauguration ...
She has a word for her critics
... and even her posture. This photo of Conway with her feet on a sofa in the Oval Office triggered a flurry of ridicule online.
“We’re constantly going back to where I sat, the presumptive negativity of what I wore or what I said, and I do think it’s a triple-standard,” Conway told CBS News. “The triple standard is that, you know, conservative women are held to — you know, are just cast aside many times by traditional feminist outlets and individuals who control a great deal of the media.”
She supported Ted Cruz before she joined Trump’s team
Before joining the Trump campaign, Conway endorsed Ted Cruz for president and also chaired a pro-Cruz PAC called Keep the Promise 1.
During that time, Conway was critical of Trump, at one point calling him “fairly unpresidential.”
She was the first woman to run a winning presidential campaign
She was promoted from senior adviser in August 2016 after campaign manager Corey Lewandowski was fired.
She was named counselor to the president in December 2016
“She is a tireless and tenacious advocate of my agenda and has amazing insights on how to effectively communicate our message,” President Trump said in a statement at the time.
She tried her hand at stand-up
A video of Conway performing stand-up in 1998 at D.C.’s Funniest Celebrity charity event surfaced in January 2017.
Some Twitter users and media outlets mocked the video in 2017, but the 1998 crowd seemed to be enjoying her topical, politically-focused jokes.
She worked at a blueberry farm for eight summers
At 16, Conway was crowned the winner of the New Jersey Blueberry Princess pageant and at 20, she won the World Champion Blueberry Packing competition.
She’s a Jersey girl
Conway was born in Camden, New Jersey, and lives with her husband, attorney George T. Conway III, and four children in Alpine, New Jersey.
She was raised by four women
After her parents split up when she was a young child, Conway was raised by her mother, grandmother and two aunts.
She has a law degree
Conway graduated magna cum laude from Trinity College, Washington, D.C., where she earned a B.A. in Political Science. She earned her law degree from George Washington University Law Center.
She practiced law, and then became a pollster
In 1995, she founded her own polling firm, the Polling Company, Inc., a female-focused consumer trend firm.
She’s no stranger to appearing on television
During her time as a pollster, she appeared on numerous television shows on major networks, including CBS, CNN, PBS, CNN, MSNBC, NBC, ABC, FOX, HBO and MTV.
She’s no stranger to politics either
She also did polling work for former Vice President Dan Quayle, former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich and then-Congressman Mike Pence.