Kellyanne Conway’s press blitz on Monday in the wake of this weekend’s tragedy in Pennsylvania raised some eyebrows.
Kellyanne Conway ’s press blitz Monday morning in the wake of this weekend’s tragedy in Pennsylvania is raising eyebrows.
Conway appeared on Fox & Friends, blaming “anti-religiosity” for Saturday’s attack on a Pittsburgh synagogue, which killed 11 people. The senior White House counselor to President Trump also called out “late-night comedians” for perpetuating such sentiment.
“The anti-religiosity in this country, that is somehow in vogue and funny to make fun of anybody of faith, to constantly be making fun of people who express religion, the late-night comedians, the unfunny people on TV shows, it’s always anti-religious,” Conway said on the Fox News morning show.
She continued, “And, remember, these people were gunned down in their place of worship, as were the people in South Carolina several years ago.” Conway was referencing the mass shooting at a black church in Charleston, S. C., carried out by white supremacist Dylann Roof. He was convicted and sentenced to death for murdering nine people in the 2015 incident.
“And they were there because they’re people of faith, and it’s faith that needs to bring us together,” stated Conway. “This is no time to be driving God out of the public square. No time to be making fun of people.”
The Pittsburgh shooting marked the deadliest attack on Jews in U. S. history. Federal prosecutors have filed hate-crime charges against Robert Bowers, a 46-year-old white man who surrendered to authorities after Saturday morning’s shooting at the Tree of Life synagogue. Law enforcement officials told CNN that he had made anti-Semitic statements during the shooting and targeted Jews on social media.
Although Conway failed to discuss the growing issue of anti-Semitism in the United States, she praised President Trump for using such a phrase.
“He denounced anti-Semitism in all forms,” she said. “He called for the death penalty for this murder in Pittsburgh.… He said the word ‘anti-Semitism,’ ‘anti-Semite.’” The New York Times reported that Trump’s statement condemning anti-Semitism came at the urging of his Jewish daughter, Ivanka Trump, and son-in-law, Jared Kushner.
In a separate interview with CNN, Conway once again praised the president’s response to the tragedy. “The president is trying to heal the country,” she emphatically stated.
Conway has been trending on Twitter all morning over her remarks.
Meanwhile, Conway’s lawyer-husband, George Conway, appeared to criticize the president for his response after the shooting. He tweeted an excerpt from a Washington Post opinion piece titled, “Let’s stop asking Trump for comfort after tragedies.”
He also retweeted a message saying that Trump’s “enemy of the people” rhetoric regarding the press needs to stop.
