Kellyanne Conway
Kellyanne Conway is a prominent political figure known for her role as a former senior adviser to President Donald Trump. Born on January 20, 1967, in New Jersey, she grew up in a religious household and pursued an education in political science and law. Conway began her career in polling and founded The Polling Company, primarily serving conservative clients, including Republican politicians and advocacy groups. She gained national attention during the 2016 presidential campaign, first as a senior adviser to Ted Cruz and later as Trump’s campaign manager, where she played a key role in his electoral victory.
As a senior counselor in the Trump administration, Conway became known for her controversial statements, including her use of the term "alternative facts" and her defense of policies such as the travel ban on certain Muslim-majority countries. Her public persona often sparked debate and criticism from various media outlets, which questioned her credibility. In her personal life, she faced challenges as her husband, George Conway, became a vocal critic of Trump, leading to public tensions within their family. After leaving the White House in 2020, Conway transitioned to media, becoming a contributor on Fox News and later hosting her own show. Conway's career reflects her significant influence in the Republican Party, despite the controversies that have surrounded her public statements and actions.
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Subject Terms
Kellyanne Conway
- Born: January 20, 1967
Former Republican pollster and counselor to the US president
Place of birth: New Jersey
Education: Trinity College; George Washington Law School
Background
Kellyanne Conway (née Fitzpatrick) was born on January 20, 1967. Her parents divorced when she was a toddler. She grew up in Atco, New Jersey, in a deeply religious household that included her mother, grandmother, and two aunts. She was raised in the Catholic faith and attended parochial schools for her elementary, high school, and undergraduate education. After graduating from Trinity College in Washington, DC, with a political science degree, she studied at Oxford University and then earned a law degree from George Washington University Law School.
Life’s Work
Conway began her career in polling as a research assistant for the Wirthlin Group. She later worked for the Luntz Research Companies. In 1995 she founded the Polling Company/Women Trend, based in New York City and Washington, DC. Her clients are largely conservative and have included Republican politicians such as Mike Pence, Iowa representative Steve King, and Newt Gringrich, as well as antiabortion organizations, such as the Susan B. Anthony List, Family Research Council (considered a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center for its denigration of LGBTQ people), and Americans United for Life; conservative think tanks and advocacy groups such as the Heritage Foundation, Americans for Prosperity, and Freedom Works; and the National Rifle Association.
In 2005 Conway coauthored What Women Really Want: How American Women Are Quietly Erasing Political, Racial, Class and Religious Lines to Change the Way We Live with Democratic strategist Celinda Lake. A frequent political commentator on television shows, Conway has appeared on conservative shows such as Real Time with Bill Maher and on rightwing extremist shows such as Frank Gaffney’s podcast Secure Freedom Radio. She also has close ties to anti-immigration groups, such as the Federation for American Immigration Reform, NumbersUSA, and the Center for Immigration Studies.
In 2015, Trump approached Conway about assisting with his presidential campaign, but she declined. During the 2016 Republican presidential primaries and caucuses, she headed the Keep the Promise I, one of four super PACS that supported Texas Senator Ted Cruz for president. The PAC ran television ads highly critical of Trump, who was Cruz’s opponent. On July 1, 2016, Trump announced Conway would be joining his campaign as a senior adviser to campaign chairman Paul Manafort. Trump cited her qualifications as a data and messaging expert with great television presence. On August 17, 2016, Trump replaced Manafort with Conway, making her his third campaign manager. It was hoped she could successfully manage both the candidate and his message to reverse declining public support. Conway achieved that goal and Trump won the November 2016 election.
Trump named Conway counselor to the president on December 22, 2016. On January 20, 2017, she stepped down as president and CEO of The Polling Company/WomanTrend. Since taking a senior position in the White House, Conway has made several controversial statements that have gained wide attention. Two days after Trump’s January 20 inauguration, she explained that White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer’s claim about the larger-than-evident size of the inaugural crowd was not a lie but an “alternate fact.” She similarly asserted facts reported by government agencies and the media that differed from those released by the White House were fake news.
In a February 2017 interview with Chris Matthews on MSNBC’s Hardball, Conway justified Trump’s executive order that banned people from seven Muslim-majority countries from entering the United States by referencing a massacre in Bowling Green, Kentucky. She claimed the public had never heard of the massacre by two Iraqi refugees who masterminded the attack because the media did not cover it. The media quickly responded by pointing out they never covered the massacre because it did not happen. Conway then explained she had meant to say “Bowling Green terrorists,” a reference to two Iraqi refugees living in Bowling Green, who were convicted of plotting to send money and weapons to an al-Qaeda group in Iraq. Media sources later reported Conway’s February 2017 reference to a Bowling Green massacre was not the first time she had made the claim.
That same month, Conway violated ethical standards of conduct when she promoted Ivanka Trump’s clothing line during an appearance on the Fox & Friends show. The day before the show, President Trump had tweeted that a clothing store had treated his daughter Ivanka unfairly because it was dropping her clothing line and accessories. During the television show, Conway told viewers, “Go buy Ivanka’s stuff . . . It’s a wonderful line. . . . I’m going to give a free commercial here.”
During Conway’s tenure as counselor to President Trump, she continued to draw criticism from the left for many of her statements and actions. At the same time, her political support of Trump also caused friction in her personal life, as her husband, George Conway, became an outspoken opponent of Trump. In 2019, George Conway was one of the founders of the Lincoln Project, a committee of moderate Republicans who actively campaigned against Trump. At the same time, Kellyanne Conway’s job was to publicly defend Trump against such criticism.
In 2020, the Conways’ then-fifteen-year-old daughter, Claudia, a social media influencer, made national news when she criticized her mother on TikTok and announced she wanted to be emancipated from her parents. In August 2020, Kellyanne Conway announced that she would be leaving her post at the White House to focus more on her family. After leaving her position, Kellyanne Conway became a regular contributor on Fox News. Beginning in 2024, the Club for Growth paid Conway to generate support for TikTok. During the same year, Fox announced that Conway was receiving her own weekly program, Here's the Deal with Kellyanne Conway.
Impact
The media responded to Conway’s allegations of fake news and messaging that ignores facts by extensive fact-checking her statements. Some television news shows, including CNN’s State of the Union and MSNBC’s Morning Joe, barred Conway, claiming her lack of credibility and assertions of false facts.
Conway’s public endorsement of Ivanka Trump’s products resulted in ethics watchdogs and the Congressional Oversight Committee calling for her to be disciplined. The Office of Government Ethics formally cited her conduct as a violation of the Standards of Conduct and called for her to be disciplined. The White House refused to act on its recommendation, instead stating that Conway had been counseled, and no further action would be taken. Although her time in the White House was marred by controversy, Conway later established herself as a powerful businessperson and a voice in the Republican Party.
Personal Life
In 2001, Conway married George T. Conway III, a lawyer. They divorced in 2023. They have four children: twins Claudia and George, and Charlotte and Vanessa.
Bibliography
Altman, Alex, and Zeke J. Miller. “Why Donald Trump Picked Kellyanne Conway to Manage His Campaign.” Time, Aug. 22, 2016, time.com/4462283/donald-trump-kellyanne-conway-campaign-manager/. Accessed 4 Oct. 2024.
Kashiwagi, Sydney. "Kellyanne Conway and George Conway Are Getting Divorced." CNN, 5 Mar. 2023, www.cnn.com/2023/03/04/politics/kellyanne-george-conway-divorce/index.html. Accessed 4 Oct. 2024.
Kessler, Glenn. “Kellyanne Conway’s Claim of a ‘Bowling Green Massacre.’” The Washington Post, 3 Feb. 2017, washingtonpost.com/news/fact-checker/wp/2017/02/03/kellyanne-conways-claim-of-a-bowling-green-massacre/. Accessed 4 Oct. 2024.
Kumar, Anita, and Meridith McGraw. "Kellyanne Conway Leaving White House." Politico, 23 Aug. 2020, www.politico.com/news/2020/08/23/kellyanne-conway-leaving-white-house-400609. Accessed 4 Oct. 2024.
Lizza, Ryan. “Kellyanne Conway’s Political Machinations.” The New Yorker, 17 Oct. 2016, newyorker.com/magazine/2016/10/17/kellyanne-conways-political-machinations. Accessed 4 Oct. 2024.
Smith, Peter Jesserer. “Kellyanne Conway: President Trump’s Pro-Life Counselor.” National Catholic Register, Jan. 27, 2017, ncregister.com/daily-news/kellyanne-conway-president-trumps-pro-life-counselor. Accessed 4 Oct. 2024.