Kellyanne Conway, who oversaw Donald Trump’s campaign, is the first woman to run a successful presidential campaign. So why aren’t feminists and liberals celebrating her, Fox News has asked?
Full Frontal host Samantha Bee took on the question Wednesday night, in a segment adding Conway to the show’s feminist hall of fame.
But it quickly became clear that Bee really wasn’t honoring Conway.
“Oh, my God, you guys, it’s so unfair,” Bee said. “A woman pulls off the historic feat of electing a sexual predator who thinks women should be punished for having abortions, and feminists don’t celebrate her with a Vogue cover! Although she did get the cover of Pussy Grabber Enabler Monthly, so I guess that’s something.”
Bee argued that Conway hasn’t been honored by liberals and feminists because she stands in opposition to a lot of traditionally liberal and feminist values. Conway campaigned for a man who once bragged that he can sexually assault women and get away with it (“Grab ’em by the pussy”) because he’s a celebrity. She criticized a TV show featuring same-sex parents. And she has argued that “femininity is replacing feminism as a leading attribute for American women” and that “if women really want to be taken seriously in the workforce these days, looking feminine is a good way to start.”
But Bee added a caveat to Conway’s comments: “I know Kellyanne doesn’t believe those homophobic, sexist things in her heart — because Kellyanne doesn’t believe anything in her heart. She will say literally anything.”
Bee pointed out that before Conway became Trump’s campaign manager, she wasn’t very fond of him — saying things like, “It’s completely transparent. Donald Trump’s tax returns aren’t. I’d like to see those be transparent.” Or, “He says he’s for the little guy, but he’s actually built a lot of his businesses on the backs of the little guy … through not paying the contractors.” And Conway once said that Trump’s nickname for Sen. Ted Cruz — “Lyin’ Ted” — was “very unpresidential.”
But since she was hired for Trump’s team, Bee explained, Conway has appeared on TV arguing that what Trump says, no matter how offensive, is presidential just because he’s president-elect.
“By that standard, presidential behavior also includes owning slaves, nailing interns, vomiting on foreign leaders, and whipping your schlong out to White House staffers,” Bee quipped, “all of which President Trump will likely do.”
Bee did give Conway some credit — for being good at her job. Time and time again, Conway has deployed a classic strategy against journalists and interviewers, Bee said: “Smile, take the question, don’t answer it, complain about Hillary Clinton.” And the results really aren’t debatable: Conway did, after all, get a celebrity billionaire with no political or military experience elected to the White House.
