Trump defends Conway under fire over Ivanka remarks

washington — Kellyanne Conway, the high-profile White House counsellor, has come under fire from Democratic and Republican lawmakers, fact checkers and the media. But she’s so far maintained the support of her boss, President Donald Trump.

Trump backed Conway both publicly and privately on Thursday after House Oversight Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, criticised her for promoting Ivanka Trump’s fashion line during a television appearance and urged the Office of Government Ethics to review the matter. White House spokesman Sean Spicer said Conway had been “counselled” on her comments, but he would not expand on what that entailed.

The president appeared to take issue with his own press secretary’s depiction, telling staff that he believed it was unfair to Conway and made it sound like she was in trouble, according to a person with direct knowledge of his comments. A White House spokeswoman said that while Trump didn’t see Conway’s television comments urging people to buy Ivanka Trump’s products, he believed she was “merely sticking up” for his daughter after Nordstrom dropped her fashion line.

The flare-up came in the midst of a rough stretch for Conway, who is among Trump’s most visible advisers.

Her reference to a nonexistent “Bowling Green massacre” made her a punchline for comics and Internet pranksters. —