George Conway, husband of White House counselor Kellyanne Conway, wrote a scathing op-ed Tuesday revealing he can’t continue giving President Trump “the benefit of the doubt about being a racist.”
“Sunday left no doubt. Naivete, resentment and outright racism, roiled in a toxic mix, have given us a racist president. Trump could have used vile slurs, including the vilest of them all, and the intent and effect would have been no less clear,” he wrote in The Washington Post.
The president sparked controversy Sunday by saying four Democratic congresswomen — Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts and Rashida Tlaib of Michigan —should all go back to their “broken and crime infested places from which they came.”
Three of the representatives were born in the U.S., and Ms. Omar, who was born in Somalia, has been a naturalized citizen since she was a teenager.
Mr. Conway said he previously thought that Mr. Trump may have been “boorish, dim-witted, inarticulate, incoherent, narcissistic and insensitive” but was an “equal-opportunity bully” and not racist.
However, he shared a childhood memory where someone yelled “go back to your country” to his mother, and that appears to have changed his mind.
“That’s racist to the core. It doesn’t matter what these representatives are for or against — and there’s plenty to criticize them for — it’s beyond the bounds of human decency. For anyone, not least a president,” he said.
Mr. Conway also said not enough Republicans have come out to condemn the president’s comments.
When asked about her husband’s op-ed on Fox News’ “America’s Newsroom,” Kellyanne Conway said she knows the president’s “heart and actions” and she goes “go by what people do, not what other people say about them.”
“I’m not going to run around pointing out everybody’s disagreements with the people in their lives. I sure could. I can point out people’s disagreement with their former spouses and current spouses and partners, future spouses and partners, but I won’t do that and I would caution all those people who asked me to gaggle not to do that,” Mrs. Conway said.
House Democrats unveiled their resolution condemning Mr. Trump’s “xenophobic” comments Monday evening.
“President Donald Trump’s racist comments have legitimized fear and hatred of new Americans and people of color,” it reads.
The resolution likely will come for a full House vote on Tuesday.
• Gabriella Muñoz contributed to this report.
• Bailey Vogt can be reached at bvogt@washingtontimes.com.
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