Kellyanne Conway may have agreed to come on Fox News on Tuesday evening to discuss the Trump administration’s response to Hurricane Harvey, but anchor Bret Baier did not let her get away without answering some questions about the latest development in the Russia probe.
Early in the interview, Conway gave a rare shout-out to the media—“We want to thank the media for really connecting people with the information they need”—for which she later patted herself on the back on Twitter. However, she seemed less assured when Baier brought up the contradictions between President Donald Trump’s words and new reports that he was planning a Trump Tower in Moscow as late as January 2016.
As the host pointed out, Trump repeatedly claimed he had “nothing to do with Russia,” first on the campaign trail and then as president. It’s an assertion he reiterated to James Comey, with some additional details added, as the former FBI director recorded in his written testimony to Congress: “He said he had nothing to do with Russia, had not been involved with hookers in Russia, and had always assumed he was being recorded when in Russia.”
But Conway was quick to defend her boss, saying, “Nothing came of it,” nothing, “there isn’t a Trump Tower in Moscow” and insisting that the president “has no business dealings there.”
“Sure, but obviously the deal was being talked about, they were looking to push it forward,” Baier replied. “You would think that ‘nothing at all’ might not be the accurate statement about that.”
With that, Conway pivoted directly to Hillary Clinton, even taking a shot at her upcoming campaign memoir. She also had criticism for Democratic lawmakers Adam Schiff and Mark Warner and later Debbie Wasserman Schultz’s former IT staffer but did not answer Baier’s question about the contradiction at the heart of Trump’s Russia denials.
Baier’s line of questioning was far tougher than the welcome Conway received from The 700 Club’s Pat Robertson earlier in the day. Asked by the 87-year-old televangelist what she views as Trump’s most defining characteristic, she replied, with a straight face, “humility.”