Donald Trump’s campaign is unlikely to bring him a presidential victory, but no one has been blaming campaign manager Kellyanne Conway for the failure. That may change, as her Twitter messages are going increasingly off message and providing plenty of ammo for The Donald’s critics.
After Mr. Trump was criticized for using the Al Smith charity dinner to accuse his opponent of corruption, social media users began sharing their favorite jokes from the event. Donald’s remarks about Secretary Clinton asking to be pardoned or his wife, Melania, plagiarizing Michelle Obama drew some attention, but it was Hillary’s zingers that landed Kellyanne in hot water. Hillary ribbed Donald’s business controversies by joking that he wouldn’t ultimately pay contractor Kellyanne. For some reason, Ms. Conway retweeted a message with that joke in her own feed, leading users to quickly begin offering their own jokes about Kellyanne’s financial future.
With Election Day quickly approaching and American media seemingly obsessed with the presidential candidates, their staff and surrogates are being closely watched by many. Kellyanne’s Twitter drew attention just a few days ago following her response to Donald’s debate performance. On Wednesday night, several of Donald Trump’s comments during the debate drew immediate ridicule from his opponents. His “such a nasty woman” interruption of Secretary Clinton’s closing remarks prompted the rise of #Imanastywoman by feminists on social media, but his “bad hombres” remark also drew comments. Given Mr. Trump’s early campaign remarks about Mexican immigrants, the use of the Spanish-language word for man did not go unnoticed. Unfortunately for Kellyanne, neither did her retweet of speculation that she hadn’t approved Donald’s choice of words. Social media users immediately began wondering if she was focusing on her own career rather than Mr. Trump’s.
Kellyanne rose to prominence in D.C. by founding a polling company focused on women’s opinions. Many political commentators were surprised when Mr. Trump chose her as his campaign manager following the abrupt departure of Corey Lewandowski. However, Kellyanne’s on-air interviews and persistent support of her candidate have led to appreciation of her professionalism. When her candidate was caught on an Access Hollywood tape making lewd remarks about women and later accused by multiple women of sexually assaulting them, Conway continued to do her job. Her recent Twitter activity suggests that her dedication to the cause is wavering as polling data increasingly hints at a resounding defeat for Donald Trump.