Where is Kellyanne Conway?
The president’s most visible spokesperson has not been seen on television since last week.
Sources that spoke to New York Daily News believe that the disappearance of the mother-of-four from TV may be connected to a series of mishaps that have dogged her in recent weeks.
Kellyanne Conway banned by TV show over fake news https://t.co/1iwfQ7ysqu pic.twitter.com/ROPmffrP2T
— The Independent (@Independent) February 16, 2017
In a February 13 appearance, the 50-year-old counselor to the president had maintained that former National Security Adviser, Michael Flynn had Mr. Trump’s “full confidence” despite the brewing storm that he had misled senior government officials regarding conversations with the Russian ambassador to the United States.
The former United States Army Lieutenant General had resigned hours later after Conway’s statement.
The following day, Conway had appeared on a slew of breakfast shows to say that Flynn offered to resign. White House Press person, Sean Spicer would later contradict her, adding that President Trump asked the retired general for his resignation.
In the wake of her contradictory comments, Kellyanne Conway was banned from MSNBC’s Morning Joe, co-host on the show, Mika Brzezinski had pointed out that the counselor to the president had lost credibility, adding that every time she was on television something was always said out of line.
“At times in recent days, Kellyanne Conway has struggled to be on the same page…as the rest of the staff in the White House…every time I’ve seen her on television; something’s askew, off or incorrect.”
The other half of the show, Joe Scarborough corroborated Brzezinski’s point, adding that Conway was hardly in the scheme of things at the White House, but still made TV appearances to prove her relevance to the administration and ended up peddling wrong information to the public.
“She’s out of the loop. She’s in none of the key meetings. It’s bad that a spokesperson in the White House actually goes out and makes things up…she’s just saying things just to get in front of the TV set and prove her relevance because, behind the scenes, she’s not in these meetings.”
In January, Conway had coined the infamous phrase “alternative facts ” after she rose stoutly to defend Sean Spicer. The press secretary in a five-minute press conference had wrongly said the crowd at Trump’s initiation ceremony was the largest ever to witness an inauguration, period, both in person and around the globe. According to TIME, Conway on NBC’s Meet the Press had called Spicer’s false statements as ‘alternative facts” and slammed the show’s host, Chuck Todd for being “overly dramatic.”
In the same month, the 50-year-old again stoked the embers of controversy by referring to the “non existence Bowling Green Massacre” to justify Trump’s ban on Muslims from seven countries. Conway had argued that President Obama imposed a “ban on Iraqi refugees” because two nationals and massacred American soldiers.
This never happened.
Two Iraqi refugees were charged and convicted of trying to smuggle weapons to Iraq to attack American troops. The plot was foiled and there was no massacre. The counselor to the president again came under fire when she violated an ethics code by endorsing Ivanka Trump’s products on TV after Nordstrom dropped the first daughter’s fashion line citing poor sales.
CNN’s Dylan Byers in a tweet confirmed that one of the most visible faces of the Trump administration had been pulled off air. However, the news reporter added that it was only a temporary hiatus, revealing that Conway told him that she was going to be on Fox News , Wednesday night.
A source speaking to the Chicago Tribune revealed that the White House had a problem with Conway’s television interviews because they were “off-message.” The source pointed out that a new White House communications director, Mike Dubke had been brought on board and his aim was to get everyone on the same page, especially Conway. Moreover, the Trump team felt the 50-year-old’s contradictory appearances on the silver screen were far from helping the administration.
White House spokesperson, Sarah Sanders debunked the claims that Conway had been sidelined in the Trump administration. However, a White House source claimed that the administration has witnessed a whittling down in controversies ever since the counselor’s week-long hiatus, adding that former Trump campaign manager would return soon.
“Clearly they’re having a much more drama-free week. Having Kellyanne off television is helping them…they’re letting the heat cool off.”
Kellyanne in an interview with CNN insisted that she had not been benched by the administration, adding “I’m trying to focus on other pieces of my portfolio.”
[Featured Image by Evan Vucci/AP Images]
