Kellyanne Conway: Key moments from her White House career (2024)

Kellyanne Conway: Key moments from her White House career (1)Kellyanne Conway: Key moments from her White House career (2)EPA

Kellyanne Conway, senior adviser to US President Donald Trump, has announced that she is resigning from her post.

She says she will step down from her role to focus on her children.

Here's a look back at her career, from helping Mr Trump to clinch the 2016 election victory to controversies surrounding "alternative facts" and endorsing products by Mr Trump's daughter, Ivanka.

The first female campaign manager to win a presidential race

Kellyanne Conway is the first woman in American history to lead a successful US presidential campaign.

Following Mr Trump's election win, she was offered the role as senior counsel to the president. In this role, she was Mr Trump's political adviser.

Once dubbed the "Trump whisperer," Mrs Conway was credited with helping to steady Mr Trump's campaign after a video was leaked to the media in which he was heard making obscene comments about women.

"She is a tireless and tenacious advocate of my agenda and has amazing insights on how to effectively communicate our message," he said.

A row over 'alternative facts'

Just days into Mr Trump's presidency, Mrs Conway became embroiled in a row after she used the phrase "alternative facts" to describe misleading information by press secretary Sean Spicer.

Photos from Mr Trump's inauguration ceremony showed that more people had attended the swearing-in ceremony of Barack Obama in 2009. The number of rides on Washington's subway system also showed fewer journeys on the day of Mr Trump's inauguration compared with Mr Obama's.

Kellyanne Conway: Key moments from her White House career (3)Kellyanne Conway: Key moments from her White House career (4)Reuters

After media reports highlighted this, the Trump administration hit out at reporters and publications.

In his first briefing as White House press secretary, Sean Spicer claimed that Mr Trump grew "the largest audience ever to witness an inauguration".

After this was challenged, Mrs Conway claimed that Mr Spicer had presented "alternative facts".

In an interview with NBC, she said the administration felt compelled to "go out and clear the air and put alternative facts out there".

Even the dictionary Merriam Webster criticised her comments, reminding its followers on Twitter that "a fact is a piece of information presented as having objective reality". It said that searches for the word "fact" spiked after her comments.

Criticism over Ivanka Trump's product promotion

In a 2017 interview, Mrs Conway urged people to "go buy" Ivanka Trump's clothes after retailer Nordstrom dropped her clothing line, citing a lack of sales.

Ethics rules state that officials cannot use their position for personal gain. Mrs Conway's comments were criticised by both Democrats and Republicans.

Sean Spicer said she had been "counselled" following the incident. However the Office of Government Ethics (OGE) said it had received no notice of "disciplinary or any other corrective action" against Mrs Conway.

The ethics advisory body said it had reason to believe that Mrs Conway had violated ethics rules. In a letter it advised the White House to investigate and possibly discipline her.

In the letter it said that there was no doubt that she had appeared on television in her official capacity, as she sat in front of the White House seal and next to an American flag.

Criticism over political activities while in office

In June 2019, the Office of Special Counsel called for the removal of Mrs Conway over claims that she had violated the Hatch Act, which prohibits federal employees from campaigning for candidates while on the job.

The government oversight agency cited "numerous occasions" in which she violated the law, describing her as a "repeat offender".

Mrs Conway was accused of violating the Hatch Act when she criticised Doug Jones, a candidate in the 2017 US senate special election in Alabama.

In one 2019 interview, she said: "If you're trying to silence me through the Hatch Act, it's not going to work." She added: "Let me know when the jail sentence starts."

The White House dismissed the advice as "deeply flawed" and "unprecedented".

Getting Trump back into briefings

Kellyanne Conway: Key moments from her White House career (5)Kellyanne Conway: Key moments from her White House career (6)Reuters

Mrs Conway is said to have been instrumental in getting the president to resume his coronavirus news briefings.

Mr Trump stopped holding the briefings after a number of tense interactions with members of the press. During one, he walked out when he was questioned about a coronavirus relief package.

Speaking in an interview with reporters, Mrs Conway said: "I just think the people want to hear from the president of the United States."

She said that in order to boost the president's polling figures he should be briefing everybody about the virus.

Last week, she criticised Joe Biden's nomination acceptance speech in which he spoke about Covid-19.

She accused him of "arrogance and ignorance" while claiming that the Democratic nominee "doesn't know what we've done on Covid-19".

Kellyanne Conway resigns as White House adviser
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Kellyanne Conway: Key moments from her White House career (2024)

FAQs

What did Kellyanne Conway do? ›

She was previously Trump's campaign manager, having been appointed in August 2016; Conway is the first woman to have run a successful U.S. presidential campaign. She has previously held roles as campaign manager and strategist in the Republican Party and was formerly president and CEO of the Polling Company/WomanTrend.

Who is Trump's campaign manager in 2024? ›

Chris LaCivita, former President Donald Trump's 2024 co-campaign manager, participated in a lengthy interview with Politico at the Turner House near the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on Thursday, July 18 (Ashley Murray/States Newsroom).

How did George and Kellyanne Conway meet? ›

After he saw Kellyanne Fitzpatrick on the cover of a society magazine, he asked Ann Coulter for an introduction and began dating Fitzpatrick. George and Kellyanne married in 2001. They have four children. The family lived in Alpine, New Jersey, but moved to Washington, D.C., after Trump was elected president.

What does Kayleigh McEnany do now? ›

Following the Trump administration, she became an on-air contributor for Fox News and serves as a co-host of Outnumbered.

Does Kellyanne Conway have kids? ›

Claudia Conway has her own opinions and is not afraid to share them. The daughter of Kellyanne Conway, a former senior White House aide for Donald Trump, and George T. Conway III, an attorney, Claudia was born on Oct. 17, 2004. She also has a twin brother, George IV, and two sisters, Charlotte and Vanessa.

Who were Trump's senior advisors? ›

Overview
  • Marcia L. Kelly, senior advisor to the first lady.
  • Jared Kushner, assistant to the president and senior advisor.
  • Ivanka Trump, advisor to the president.
  • Paula M. White, advisor to the White House Faith and Opportunity Initiative.

How long was Trump's convention speech? ›

“Let me begin this evening by expressing my gratitude to the American people for your outpouring of love and support following the assassination attempt at my rally on Saturday,” Trump said near the start of the 93-minute speech.

Did Trump announce he is running in 2024? ›

Donald Trump, the 45th president of the United States, who served from 2017 to 2021, announced his campaign for a nonconsecutive second presidential term in the 2024 U.S. presidential election on November 15, 2022.

Where is the Republican convention in 2024? ›

The City of Milwaukee is excited to host the Republican National Convention from July 15-18, 2024.

Who is Kellyanne's partner? ›

How much is Conway worth? ›

According to Forbes, Conway had a net worth of US$3.6 billion as of April 2022. William E. Conway Jr.

How much is Kellyanne Conway and her husband worth? ›

Her massive support for Trump even lead to the downfall of her 22-year marriage to George Conway, one of the ex-POTUS' biggest critics. (According to report detailed above, she and George shared controlled assets valued at between $11 and $44 million.)

Who was Trump's press sec? ›

List of press secretaries
NameStartPresident
Sean SpicerJanuary 20, 2017Donald Trump
Sarah Huckabee SandersJuly 21, 2017
Stephanie GrishamJuly 1, 2019
Kayleigh McEnanyApril 7, 2020
37 more rows

Does Kayleigh McEnany have a law degree? ›

She completed her second and third years of law school at Harvard, and graduated from Harvard in 2016. McEnany married Sean Gilmartin, a pitcher in Major League Baseball, in November 2017. The couple have one daughter.

How much does Kayleigh McEnany make on Fox? ›

The American conservative political commentator has an estimated net worth of $1 million as of 2023. How much does Kayleigh McEnany earn? It is alleged that her annual income from Fox News is $1.8 million.

Is Kellyanne Conway Republican? ›

Has Kayleigh McEnany been married before? ›

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