Longtime Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway called on the president-elect’s relentless critics to “calm the hell down already” and focus on helping him deliver his agenda for the country, though she admitted such cooperation is unlikely. Speaking at Harvard University’s Institute of Politics on Tuesday night in Cambridge, Massachusetts, the former White House counselor and pollster addressed younger critics during a 90-minute session. She asserted that the constant attacks on President-elect Donald Trump didn’t derail him during the campaign and won’t hinder him during his “second chance” presidency.
That said, she is under no illusions that the ranting and raving isn’t going to stop. “Unfortunately, Trump Derangement Syndrome is real,” Conway said. “You all know someone afflicted by it. It’s stage five. It wrecks the nervous system. It addles the brain. There is no vaccine, cure, or therapeutic. But you all have a role in helping people unwind from it. Sunshine, sunlight, maybe someone in their life who has a different point of view.”
In her characteristic rapid-fire manner, Conway explained both why Trump won and why the criticism of him and MAGA failed to resonate. “I’ll tell you what didn’t work. ‘Trump, Trump, Trump, Trump, Trump.’ Trump is the adjective, the noun, the adverb. The ‘Trump, Trump, Trump.’ It just didn’t work, and so I respectfully don’t think it’s going to work as he tries to govern,” she said of the tactic used by Vice President Kamala Harris in her losing bid. Conway also criticized the media, stating that it had failed miserably in its coverage of both Trump and his campaigns, dating back to his first presidential run in 2016.
“The media, who I guess just has a whole living on getting elections wrong, on that they’re consistent,” she said. “They have a horrible record.” Conway stated that the 45th president, who will be the 47th president, has been given a rare second chance by winning a second term. He is working diligently to establish the new administration. “In this life, we all get second chances. We hope we do. But I can’t think of a second chance quite as large as the one he’s getting, all things considered,” she said.
Conway predicted Trump could indeed win again during a Fox News segment in August. “It is new, and look, Donald Trump beat a woman before, and he can beat a woman again, but this woman’s not defined the way Hillary Clinton was. She was seen as sour and dour, she had a lot of people telling pollsters, ‘I don’t think she’s honest or trustworthy, in fact, she’s probably corrupt,’ and she wasn’t seen as fresh and new. She wasn’t seen as part of the old; she barely was part of the old girls’ club to the extent there was one.”
“And I think it’s a different race, a different set, and look, the struggle is not to find the best nickname for her or insult her, I want more insights, fewer insults. I think the way to beat her is very obvious: it’s through policy. And in 2016 when Donald Trump beat Hillary Clinton, a much more formidable, much more experienced woman, the issue set was not as clean,” Conway continued.
“He wanted border security and immigration to be a top issue and couldn’t get it there. He’s the one to introduce it, elevating to the national consciousness, but to international derision, not to the number two issue in all seven swing states and nationwide where it is now. He said he can get growth better and unemployment down and wages up, but those were promises from a business guy and a job creator,” she added. “He did all that. He can point to what he did, performance versus promises. On policy, he wins this hands down.”
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