Kellyanne Conway: People Would Cheer 'If I Were Shot And Killed'

WASHINGTON, DC — Kellyanne Conway, President Trump's counselor and former campaign manager, told the hosts of "Fox & Friends" Friday morning that she was concerned the rise of personal verbal attacks in the political sphere could lead to more violence like the shooting that targeted Republican lawmakers this week. House Majority Whip Steve Scalise remains in critical condition at the hospital after he was shot in the hip Wednesday.

"If I were shot and killed tomorrow, half of Twitter would explode in applause and excitement," Conway said. "This is the world we live in now. It’s terrible."

She said that before news of the shooting broke, every news network except for Fox was running critical coverage of Republican governance. (For more information on this and other political stories, subscribe to the White House Patch for daily newsletters and breaking news alerts.)

Conway noted that the assailant who attacked the Republicans was a strident critic of the president and the GOP on social media, and she said everyone should "look inside at what they're saying and what they're posting."

"Again, it's one thing to say I disagree with you on health care repeal or taxes or national security, but you can't attack people personally and think tragedies won't happen," she said.

She did not note that her boss repeatedly used personal attacks in his political rhetoric. He even developed a habit during the campaign of giving derogatory nicknames to his opponents, including "Crooked Hillary," "Lyin' Ted" and "Little Marco." He called President Obama and Hillary Clinton the "founders of ISIS." He later said he meant this "literally." In one debate, he called Clinton a "nasty woman." As president, he called the Senate Minority Leader "Cryin' Chuck Schumer."

"Nobody's responsible for this shooting except the shooter," Conway said. "At the same time, you can oppose policies, but it's done with such hateful, charged rhetoric that active resistance becomes armed resistance in the case of this lone gunman."

While calling for Democratic leaders to urge other to tone down their rhetoric, she accused House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of "pointing fingers" Thursday. Pelosi had pushed back against criticisms of liberal rhetoric on Thursday, noting that she had been threatened several years ago by a man whose mother blamed Fox News for his actions.

After Wednesday's attack, Pelosi put out a statement saying, "On days like today, there are no Democrats or Republicans, only Americans united in our hopes and prayers for the wounded.” Thursday night, she said in a joint interview with Speaker Paul Ryan, "Tonight, we're all Team Scalise."

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