It was announced on Thursday that former Trump campaign manager Kellyanne Conway will serve in the White House as counselor to President Trump. From the New York Times:
Kellyanne Conway, the Republican pollster and strategist who helped guide President-elect Donald J. Trump to victory in November, will be appointed counselor to the president, becoming the highest-ranking woman in his White House, the transition team announced early Thursday.
Ms. Conway, who took over as campaign manager in August, shortly after Mr. Trump clinched the Republican nomination, guided her candidate through a brutal and divisive campaign, often appearing on television to vouch for him during periods of scandal or controversy.
“Kellyanne Conway has been a trusted advisor and strategist who played a crucial role in my victory,” Trump said in a statement. “She is a tireless and tenacious advocate of my agenda and has amazing insights on how to effectively communicate our message.” The statement also says Trump’s victory “shattered the glass ceiling for women”—Conway is the first female campaign manager to serve on a winning presidential campaign.
As recently as a couple weeks ago, it was unclear whether or not Conway—who has cited family reasons as a reason for reluctance—would accept a formal position in the White House.
Conway, best known as one of the Trump campaign’s most shameless dissemblers, has also been called, in Thursday’s Times report and elsewhere, the “Trump Whisperer.” A passage in a late October New York Magazine piece by Gabriel Sherman about the final days of the Trump campaign shows why:
To hear Kellyanne Conway talk about managing her boss is to listen to a mother of four who has had ample experience with unruly toddlers. Instead of criticizing Trump’s angry tweets, for instance, she suggested that he also include a few positive ones. “You had these people saying, ‘Delete the app! Stop tweeting!’ ” she recalled. “I would say, ‘Here are a couple of cool things we should tweet today.’ It’s like saying to someone, ‘How about having two brownies and not six?’
Only time will tell if the brownie approach, carried over to Trump’s White House, will prove as effective at steering Trump away from war with China. For now, Conway is is due congratulations. Months of these kinds of performances have unquestionably earned her a permanent place by Trump’s side.
