It is truly a wonder why White House Counsel Kellyanne Conway hasn’t divorced her husband yet. Kellyanne is Trump’s most reliable defender and her husband has become one of his most vocal critics. High-powered Washington D.C. lawyer George Conway, a conservative, never misses an opportunity to berate the President. He doesn’t merely criticize Trump’s policies, he attacks him at the most personal level.
On Sunday, Conway retweeted one of radical Never Trumper Bill Kristol’s disparaging tweets about Trump’s “mental condition and psychological state.”
His condition is getting worse.
— George Conway (@gtconway3d) March 17, 2019
After former administration staffer Cliff Sims wrote an especially offensive book about Trump, the President berated him in a tweet. Conway responded by tweeting that Trump’s “stupidity knows no bounds.”
Your stupidity knows no bounds. https://t.co/Ac6eQmTgOx
— George Conway (@gtconway3d) January 29, 2019
Following Trump’s denial of ever working for or colluding with Russia, Conway sent the following tweet.
Given that Trump has repeatedly lied about the Daniels and McDougal payments—and given that he lies about virtually everything else, to the point that his own former personal lawyer described him as a “f****ing liar”—why should we take his word over that of federal prosecutors?
— George Conway (@gtconway3d) December 14, 2018
Surprisingly, there was a time when Conway actually supported the President. In fact, he was the one who introduced his wife to Trump.
In the early 2000s, the Conways bought a condominium in Trump World Tower. “There, George made an impression on the future president at a condo board meeting where he argued against removing Trump’s name from the building. The speech earned George an offer to join the condo board, which he declined but passed on to his wife, who accepted.”
Conway now wishes “I had said no, and never mentioned it when I got home.”
Although Conway loathes Trump now, it wasn’t always that way. In fact, he even thought about taking a position at the DOJ in the new administration. However, Conway’s “pre-nomination process coincided with Trump’s firing of FBI Director James Comey and the beginning of the Mueller investigation. George’s friends said he decided he did not want to be part of a department that would constantly be at odds with the president.”
The Washington Post’s Ben Terris visited the couple at their home last summer. Home for the Conways is a $7.7 million, 15,000 square foot home in an exclusive neighborhood off Embassy Row where they live with their four children.
Terris wrote that George invited him into his office to “look at a photograph of the moment everything changed. It’s a picture he took on election night 2016: Donald Trump is reaching for the first draft of his acceptance speech, just as victory seemed imminent. Back then, George was such an ardent supporter of the president, and so proud of his wife for her historic role as campaign manager, that he wept for joy.”
It was in 2018 when George emerged as a serious Trump critic. And it’s not exactly clear why he has become so opposed to the President.
There are many in Washington who disparage Trump for his behavior or for his policies, but usually those are the ones who have opposed him all along. And Trump has governed as a conservative.
Terris wrote:
Instead, George immersed himself in the small fraternity of anti-Trump conservatives. He is now a man without a party: In early March of this year [2018], George changed his affiliation from Republican to “unaffiliated.” He has, according to Politico, offered unsolicited advice to journalists who have written articles critical of the president. And recently, he has been spotted at a semi-secret group of Trump skeptics known as the Meeting of the Concerned, eviscerating his wife’s boss among fellow conservatives who would like to see Trump, and by extension Kellyanne, out of a job.
If he’s being honest, that would make George happy, too.
“If there’s an issue,” George said, “it’s because she’s in that job, for that man.”
His wife may find his gestures of resistance disrespectful of her, but George disagrees. He can redirect criticism as deftly as she can. “Her problem is with her boss,” he says, “not me.”
Although no one can know what goes on in someone else’s marriage, an outsider looking in might see a more personal reason behind George’s strong feelings. Perhaps he feels that Kellyanne has chosen Trump over him.
“Kellyanne is an independent woman, an independent woman stuck between two men who could blow up her day with a tweet,” observed Terris.
Fox News’ Adam Shaw compared the couple to James Carville and Mary Matalin. The “Ragin’ Cajun” became well-known after Bill Clinton won the presidency in 1992. Carville had been the campaign’s lead strategist. At that time, he was dating (and later married) Mary Matalin, who was the campaign director for President George H. W. Bush. Matalin shared a humorous story about the morning after Clinton’s victory. She had woken up with a terrible hangover. She called Carville and when he picked up the phone, she said “F*** you.” However, true love prevailed and they went on to marry.
The ending remains to be written for the Conways.
Fun Facts About George Conway:
He is half Filipino on his mother’s side.
He and Kellyanne were introduced by Ann Coulter.
He dated Laura Ingraham prior to his marriage.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member