Kellyanne Conway, a leading spokesperson for President Donald Trump, launched a tirade against the media in an appearance on Fox News Sunday in which she called for commentators to be fired for covering Trump poorly.
In a rant that has since gone viral, Ms Conway bemoaned the fact that “not one silly political analyst and pundit who talked smack all day long about Donald Trump has been let go”, in a continuation of the hostile relations between Mr Trump’s administration and major media organisations.
The appearance followed comments from the President’s chief strategist and former editor of right-wing news site Breitbart.com, Stephen Bannon, in which he called the media the “opposition party” which should “keep its mouth shut”.
Ms Conway has been the most frequent spokesperson representing Mr Trump’s views on talk shows, and continued to lead the coordinated attack on the media, which has come from Mr Trump personally, along with Mr Bannon and Press Secretary Sean Spicer.
Upon confrontation with host Chris Wallace on what is usually a sympathetic network to Mr Trump’s administration, Ms Conway argued that “if the mainstream media were a thriving private-sector business that actually turned a profit, 20% of the people would be gone”.
“If you’re part of Team Trump, you walk around with these gaping, seeping wounds every single day,” said Ms Conway, referring to a perception in the Trump team that they are being attacked unfairly by media organisations.
“I believe in a full and free press. I’m here every Sunday morning. I haven’t slept-in in months.”
Mr Wallace garnered praise on social media for not interrupting what was developing into a full-blooded rant from Ms Conway, and merely thanked her at the end of the monologue for her appearance on the show.
Ms Conway was recently the subject of an SNL parody routine in which she appears on a talk show. Actress Kate McKinnon plays the president's advisor and sings a musical number in the style of Roxie Hart from the musical Chicago.
