Kellyanne Conway lashed out at CNN’s Dana Bash after the news anchor asked the counselor to the president about her husband’s tweets.
‘I’ll just ask you one question that a lot of people are asking me, probably you too. And that is, what is up with your husband’s tweets?’ Bash had asked Sunday morning during CNN’s State of the Union program.
Conway went on the attack, calling it a ‘double standard’ to be asked about tweets written by her husband George, who often says things on Twitter that make it look like he’s trolling President Trump.
Counselor to the President Kellyanne Conway called it a ‘double standard’ Sunday when she was asked about her husband’s tweets on CNN
CNN’s Dana Bash has asked Kellyanne Conway about George Conway’s tweets, which are often critical of President Trump
Bash had pointed to a tweet sent out by George Conway, in which the lawyer shared a piece of CNN’s Kaitlan Collins’ reporting, with the journalist stating that officials are hesitant to speak for Trump because he ‘says one thing, then does the opposite.’
‘So true. It’s absurd,’ George Conway had written.
Kellyanne Conway started her pushback by saying that her husband also tweets ‘things that are also supportive, and he writes a lot of things about corgis and Philadelphia Eagles and sports, too.’
She then said she had two points to make to the anchor.
‘Number one, that, again that woman who lost the election whose name I never say on TV anymore is wrong, I think she said white women have to listen to their, the men in their life, to form their own political opinions. Wrong again lady,’ Conway said, trying to take a whack at ex-Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, who suggested on a trip to India that white women were influenced by their spouses to cast a vote for President Trump.
Conway then turned to her other favorite boogeyman: the news media.
‘Number two, it’s fascinating to me that CNN would go there,’ she said. ‘But it’s very good for the whole world to have just witnessed that it’s now fair game … how people’s spouses and significant others may differ from them.’
‘I’m really surprised, but very, in some way, relieved and gratified to see that,’ she continued.
‘That should really be fun,’ Conway added.
Bash interjected and said she would have asked the Trump official the same question if she were a man and her wife had been sending out critical tweets.
‘It’s about questioning, publicly questioning what you are doing for a living and with regard for your boss,’ Bash said. ‘And it has nothing to do with your gender.’
Bash also said her question wasn’t meant to be critical.
‘Oh, of course it was,’ Conway shot back. ‘It was meant to harass and embarrass.’
‘By definition, spouses have a difference of opinion when one is, I don’t know, draining the joint bank account to support things that maybe the other disagrees with,’ she continued. ‘So, this is a fascinating cross the Rubicon moment. And I will leave it at that.’
Bash replied that she hadn’t intended to ‘cross any Rubicon.’
‘It was actually intended to be somewhat lighthearted about the fact that we are all grownups who have different opinions,’ the newswoman continued. ‘But I’m sorry that you took it that [way].’
Conway shot back again, pointing out that Bash had asked her a ‘question that is on everybody’s mind.’
‘Yes, it is. It is. It is. I’m sure you, I’m sure you have heard it too,’ Bash replied.
Numerous outlets have written about George Conway’s Twitter habit and it continued through this weekend with the lawyer retweeting a tweet from the New York Times’ Maggie Haberman, in which the journalist shared a photo of George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush, Laura Bush, Bill and Hillary Clinton, Michelle and Barack Obama, and Melania Trump.
‘When you contrast this photo with a weekend-long tweetstorm from current @potus, it’s striking,’ Haberman wrote.
Trump personally went after Habeman on Twitter on Saturday and referred to one of her sources as a ‘drunk/drugged up loser.’
Bash said she thought it might be ‘hard’ for Conway and her husband to hold different political views, and she called it ‘unusual’ that he would send out the tweets.
‘It’s hard for the two adults? My husband and me? Now you’re talking about my marriage again?’ Conway asked.
Bash said she wasn’t talking about Conway’s marriage.
‘Kellyanne, Kellyanne, here was my whole in this – is that you are a professional working for the president of the United States, and your husband is a well-respected lawyer,’ Bash said. ‘And my point is, that we don’t often see, in fact I don’t remember the last time we saw somebody working for the president in a high-profile position when their spouse is saying critical things about them,’ Bash said. ‘That is all, that is all.’
Conway responded by telling the journalist that that wasn’t true’
‘There are other family members whose – of people who work at the White House who certainly don’t support the president privately and publicly,’ she state.
She added that there were people in the administration who had worked for Democrats and donated to Democrats in the past.
‘But all that aside, that really is meant to divert attention from, again, the big issues that American cares about,’ Conway replied. ‘But, like I said, CNN chose to go there. I think that’s going to be fascinating moving forward. And don’t deny that, when you said it must be difficult.’
‘I do want you to clarify, though, for the whole worldwide audience – and, in fact, for me, since you raised m – it’s “difficult” for whom to have two adults what?’ Conway said, trying to slap back. ‘Difficult for my children, who are probably watching you right now? Because it’s not hard for them.’
Bash pointed out that she wasn’t the person who sent out the tweets.
‘They’ve already seen a double standard for their mother for two years,’ Conway said, pulling out the sexism card again.
‘It is not about gender,’ Bash shot back. ‘I don’t want to have this conversation. And you know that I don’t believe it’s about gender.’
Bash pointed to how President Trump criticized former Deputy FBI Director Andrew McCabe over the fact that his wife ran for political office as a Democrat and received a donation from former Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe’s PAC, as McAuliffe was a longtime supporter of Bill and Hillary Clinton.
Conway tried to say the criticism wasn’t about McCabe’s spouse.
‘The president knew something early that everybody else is now finding out,’ Conway said. ‘The president has excellent instincts. And he knew Jim Comey and Andrew McCabe … could not be trusted.’
Bash threw in the towel with Conway after that, ending their segment by pointing out that the inspector general, the watchdog at the Justice Department, had referred its finding on McCabe to the U.S. Attorney’s office in Washington for possible prosecution.
‘And we are covering that. And we will continue to cover that,’ Bash said ending the segment.