Kellyanne Conway, who served as then-President Donald Trump’s top political adviser for nearly his entire term, warned his GOP primary rivals why they run a great risk if they launch attacks against him.
She made her comments during a “Big Saturday Show” segment on Fox News in the context of Trump leading his current and prospective primary rivals in nearly all polls, meaning the primary is really a race for second place.
Here’s a partial transcript:
FOX NEWS HOST: Is this the race to second place?
KELLYANNE CONWAY: It looks that way. Trump is way ahead in everybody’s Republican primary polls, comfortably over 50%. And part of it is because when anyone hires someone to do a job, of almost any sort, let alone a big job, you have a bias towards hiring someone who has done the job before. That’s the calculation many Republican voters are making presently, Molly. They’re saying I liked his economy and energy independence, I liked lower crime, the border was more secure. We have six million people walking over the border. Six million is a higher number than the population of 31 states in this country.
Tim Scott is a wonderful United States senator, he’s a fabulous human being, we should be so happy that he is — out there as a messenger, as a leader. And I’m very happy he’s a Republican. He’s also someone who’s always worked very well with Trump while we were in the White House. He tried and worked really hard in a bipartisan fashion on policing during the George Floyd riots, and, of course, his murder, and that didn’t go anywhere because of the Democrats.
But this is a race for second and it’s funny how they hit DeSantis, they like play with him and it works. I think DeSantis made a cardinal mistake in the last six months. He allowed himself, a combination of his donors and the media, to be seen as an alternative to Donald Trump where all he had to do after the big 19-point victory was say, “I’m an alternative to Joe Biden” and kept himself there, and then every split screen you’ve — that we would have shown for six months would see Biden and DeSantis.
But it’s Biden and Trump, and it is Trump and DeSantis. I think it was a clever statement coming out of the Trump camp because they’re talking about 2028, they’re basically saying this race is over, everybody.
Then she dropped this bombshell:
Last point, there is an impulse to attack Donald Trump, to beat him for this nomination. But remember, as you have fun, Ron Desantis, Chris Christie, and others, attacking Donald Trump, you have to attract his voters and they’re not going to like that. So I think it is very difficult to run against him.
WATCH:
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Disclaimer: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author’s opinion.