Kellyanne Elizabeth Conway (née Fitzpatrick; born January 20, 1967) is an American political consultant and pollster who served as Senior Counselor to the President in the first administration of Donald Trump from 2017 to 2020.

In the 2016 Republican presidential primaries, Conway initially endorsed Ted Cruz and chaired a pro-Cruz political action committee.

[13] On November 29, 2017, Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced that Conway would oversee White House efforts to combat the opioid overdose epidemic.

Members of Congress from both parties called for an investigation of an apparent ethics violation after she publicly endorsed commercial products associated with the president's daughter, Ivanka Trump.

This came after months of a public feud between herself and her teenage daughter, Claudia, who lambasted her in the media, politically and personally, and threatened to seek legal emancipation.

[21][22][23] Conway's father had German, English, and Irish ancestry, while her mother is of Italian descent;[24] John Fitzpatrick owned a small trucking company, and Diane worked at a bank.

[45] In addition to her political opinion research work, Conway has directed demographic and attitudinal survey projects for trade associations and private companies, including American Express, ABC News, Major League Baseball, and Ladies Home Journal.

"[8] As part of their long-running feud with Donald Trump,[48] the MSNBC show Morning Joe publicly "banned" Conway in February 2017.

[8] Yet she initially endorsed Ted Cruz in the 2016 Republican presidential primary and chaired a pro-Cruz political action committee known as Keep the Promise I, which was almost entirely funded by businessman Robert Mercer.

[58][59][60] In a January 2017 interview, Conway acknowledged the SNL parody by noting that, "Kate McKinnon clearly sees the road to the future runs through me and not Hillary.

[66] The following day, however, Trump released a written statement stating that the campaign sources were wrong and that he had expressed disappointment at her critical comments on Romney.

"[73][74][75] According to eyewitnesses, Conway allegedly punched a tuxedo-clad man at an exclusive inauguration ball just hours after Trump was sworn in as president.

[80][81][82] Conway's phrase reminded some of "Newspeak", an obfuscatory language style that is a key element of the society portrayed in George Orwell's dystopian novel 1984.

In order to justify President Trump's immigration ban, she referenced an event allegedly perpetrated by Iraqi terrorists she termed the "Bowling Green massacre".

[87] Conway stated the next day that she meant to say "Bowling Green terrorists", both of whom had pleaded guilty to carrying out and supporting attacks on American soldiers in Iraq.

[89] On February 5, 2017, New York University journalism professor Jay Rosen argued that, given repeated misstatements of fact, Conway should cease being booked as a guest on television news shows.

The group's president, Robert Weissman, declared, "Since she said it was an advertisement, that both eliminates any question about whether outsiders are unfairly reading into what's being said, and two, it makes clear that wasn't an inadvertent remark".

[96] Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington filed a similar complaint with the OGE and with the White House Counsel's Office;[97] the group's executive director, Noah Bookbinder, stated "This seems to us to be about as clear-cut a violation as you can find".

[98] Harvard constitutional law professor Laurence Tribe told The New York Times "You couldn't think of a clearer example of violating the ban of using your government position as kind of a walking billboard for products or services offered by a private individual," adding "She is attempting quite crudely to enrich Ivanka and therefore the president's family.

[104] Both Chaffetz and Cummings wrote the OGE on February 9, 2017, requesting that Conway's behavior be investigated and that the office recommend "suggested disciplinary action, if warranted".

[105] He argued that Conway violated the Hatch Act when she criticized Doug Jones, a candidate in the 2017 U.S. Senate special election in Alabama.

[105] On March 6, 2018, the U.S. Office of Special Counsel (OSC) – led by Trump appointee Henry Kerner – issued its final report, determining that Conway violated the Hatch Act in two television interviews in November and December 2017.

The OSC noted her criticism from February to May 2019 of candidates such as Amy Klobuchar, Bernie Sanders, Beto O'Rourke, Cory Booker, Elizabeth Warren, Joe Biden and Kirsten Gillibrand, and also called her violations "egregious, notorious, and ongoing".

"[17] Due to Conway's status as a presidential appointee, the OSC was unable to take any steps to implement its recommendation, but it was submitted to the President for consideration.

"[49] The show's co-host Mika Brzezinski said, "I don't believe in fake news, or information that is not true... every time I've ever seen her on television, something's askew, off or incorrect.

[120] Conway came under criticism when she was photographed sitting on an Oval Office couch with her legs folded beneath her—shoes pressed against the upholstery—during President Trump's meeting with leaders from historically black colleges and universities.

[123] Body language expert Patti Wood asserted that Conway's posture was not only rude but "rather sexual" and a sign that she "doesn't have to follow the rules" because she was "buddies with Trump.

[125][123] In September 2021, President Biden sent Conway a letter requesting that she resign from her position on the United States Air Force Academy's board of visitors, informing her that she'd otherwise be dismissed from it.

[135] In this capacity, Conway lobbied against efforts to restrict or force the sale of TikTok amid congressional consideration of the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act.

[137] Shortly after the Supreme Court of Alabama delivered their February 2024 ruling in LePage v. Center for Reproductive Medicine, Conway's firm shared polls that they had conducted demonstrating broad public support for protections of IVF and fertility treatments, even among Americans opposed to abortion and self-identifying evangelicals.