Kellyanne Conway Deserved Better

It’s been painful to watch the public disintegration of the Conway marriage, thanks to the loathsome George Conway’s relentless public humiliation of his wife, Kellyanne, Senior Counselor to the President.

Now they are both retreating from public life for a while to concentrate on their four children, with special attention on their troubled 15-year-old daughter whose racy social media accounts have been a cry for help.

Let’s back up.

Both George, a lawyer, and Kellyanne worked on the 2016 Trump campaign. George Conway initially sought a job in the Trump Justice Department and he either withdrew his name or President Trump refused to hire him. 

There are differing accounts of what happened.

What quickly became apparent, however, was that George Conway was jealous of his wife’s success as he became a bitter and strident critic of her boss, filling social media with caustic, personal attacks on Trump. 

His behavior was that of a petulant, pudgy mean girl.

Those of us in two-career families were astonished by his boorish behavior. What supportive husband or wife would constantly and publicly insult a spouse’s employer?

George Conway’s behavior went beyond tacky and mean-spirited and bordered on psychotic. 

Meanwhile, teenaged Claudia Conway, who hates the president even more than her father does, has accused her parents of abuse and has lately been threatening them with emancipation. She claims her father ignores her and doesn’t even know her middle name.

Her social media posts - in which she begs Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to hire her as an intern - are the angry rantings of a teenaged girl. Pity all this anguish is playing out in public.

On Sunday, Kellyanne Conway gave up. She wrote an elegant resignation letter that praised the president and her coworkers at the White House. She will leave her post at the end of August.

“This is completely my choice, my voice. In time, I will announce future plans,” she wrote. “For now, and for my beloved children, it will be less drama, more mama.”

Men who rise to the top of their professions generally have the backing of supportive wives. Successful women ought to have spouses who do the same.

Kellyanne - an accomplished pollster, consultant and campaign manager before taking a job at the White House - didn’t have that. Yet throughout this sordid ordeal, precipitated by the petty little man she married, Kellyanne refused to speak ill of her husband.

Kellyanne Conway will be back once her family situation is resolved. She’s too damn talented to stay long on the sidelines.