Conway Survives Undermining Efforts and Stays in the White House

Kellyanne Conway, President Trump’s counselor, a year ago, told American audience that the White House was presenting “alternative facts” in stating that the inauguration crowd was the largest it has been. This comment has made her a caricature in media.

A year later, Ms. Conway, at the age of 51, is one of the only prominent aides left from the campaign of 2016. White House has experienced the highest turnover rates in decades and her former colleague, Hope Hicks, has recently announced her departure from the White House. However, she has remained despite the turmoil and instability in Washington in the past year.

Ms. Conway has stepped back from media strategically during her career to prove her capability on policy and this decision has paid off. She only appears in public when she is asked by the president to engage in public appearances, and she has prioritized her agenda over the spotlight she is able to get as a politician.

As a vocal opponent of abortion, Ms. Conway serves as an important tie the president has to the conservative wing. Ms. Conway has proved her capability and her determination to stay with her loyalty and thorough understanding of who she is working with. While she has struggled in earlier months of the presidency with the president’s former chief of staff, Reince Reibus, Ms. Conway has survived the hardship. Despite her colleague’s discrediting her for the campaign victory and distrust in her ability, she persisted.

However, she also faced much criticism. Other Republicans remarked that “she has no shame and that is a quality the president values”, according to Tim Miller, a spokesperson for Jeb Bush’s presidential campaign. This quality of “having no shame”, can be taken as an advantage for Ms. Conway and viewed as a sign of persistence and resilience.

She has faced many attacks from fellow aides, and the most significant attempt to curtail her influence was by the president’s senior advisor and son in law, Jared Kushner. He stated that Ms. Conway was getting too much credit for the success of the election campaign of 2016, and Ms. Conway too survived these undermining efforts.

Ms. Conway has fearlessly defended Trump for his records with women and openly criticized women who attended the Women’s March last year. She had also defended Mr. Trump for his audio of him boasting about sexual assault by rallying support from the Trump campaign members of the “October 8th coalition.” She has also been greatly helpful in steering Mr. Trump towards the right direction; despite him being easily distracted, Ms. Conway has reminded Trump continuously to keep up with his campaign promises.

Ms. Conway views the criticism and verbal assaults against her as unjust and carrying sexist undertones. She takes notes how in the political sphere and in public media, her and many of her women colleagues, including Hope Hicks, have avoided the spotlight as much as they could and focused on their political and policy work, in order to work their way up against the misogynistic norms.

Ms. Conway further advocates for Trump on his stance on women as she states that “President Trump is more kind, open, gracious and respectful to the women in the White House than the so-called pro-women movement that criticizes everything from what we wear to what we say to what we believe. I wouldn’t work there if he weren’t open to my opinion. It would literally make zero sense for me to be there.”

Featured Image via Wikimedia