President Donald Trump's former White House counselor Kellyanne Conway was criticized after she praised his speech on the National Mall on Wednesday night by claiming on Fox News that Trump extended an "olive branch" to people who didn't vote for him.
Trump's remarks themselves resembled a campaign rally more than the unifying and "inclusive" celebration organizers had promised. Within minutes of taking the stage, he criticized former President Joe Biden without mentioning him by name, declaring that the United States had recently been "a dead country" before claiming it had become "the hottest country anywhere in the world."
He went on to describe the Biden administration as "a total disaster" marked by "four years of incompetence," while also attacking diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, criticizing transgender athletes, and alleging—without publicly presenting evidence—that his disastrous Reflecting Pool renovation had been "vandalized by thugs."
But to hear Conway tell it during an interview with Trump's daughter-in-law, Fox News host Lara Trump, Trump was doing everything possible to bring the American people together to celebrate the nation's semiquicentennial:
“What an uplifting, optimistic, patriotic, I would say inclusive, opening for America’s 250th birthday, which is gonna go on for weeks and months now by President Donald J. Trump."
"He gave us a report card of success but I think he also is extending an olive branch to those that may not have voted for him but are Americans and he wants everybody to celebrate this incredible moment.”
"He said something so important: how lucky and blessed we are, Lara, to be living through our nation's semiquicentennial—and yes, I did practice that word."
You can hear what she said in the video below.
No one was buying Conway's attempt to rewrite the narrative.
Conway has long carried water for Trump despite a strained relationship.
After Conway served as Trump's campaign manager, Trump appointed Conway as Counselor to the President shortly after winning the 2016 general election, referring to her in a statement as "a trusted adviser and strategist who played a crucial role in my victory."
Conway ultimately fell out with Trump when he lashed out at her after she revealed in her memoir that she personally told him he lost the 2020 presidential election to then-candidate Joe Biden, undermining his false claims of massive voter fraud.
But she is most remembered for remarks she made early in the first Trump administration—Conway gained notoriety for claiming White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer "gave alternative facts" while lying about the attendance numbers at Trump’s inauguration.
Claiming Trump extended an "olive branch" to people who didn't vote for him is just a sign she's sticking to the same playbook.
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