She denies it, but more than a dozen people close to the campaign say it’s true.
DONALD TRUMP’S 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN is facing its biggest stress-test yet. And already the pressure is widening subterranean cracks of mistrust and rivalry.
The fault lines emerged rapidly as Trump’s VP pick, Senator JD Vance, struggled and reports emerged that “Trump allies” were second-guessing the selection. At the center of the friction is the familiar face of Kellyanne Conway—Trump’s longtime political adviser who has as much a reputation for tactical brilliance as for strategic leaking.
In interviews with The Bulwark, twenty Trump campaign staffers, allies, confidants, and advisers were quick to shoot down any notion that Trump was turning his back on Vance or was displeased with him amid his rocky rollout. But more than a dozen of those sources volunteered without prompting that they believed Conway, who initially opposed the selection of Vance, was undermining him through leaks to the press expressing doubts about his readiness and the campaign’s vetting.
Conway denied the allegations, calling the dozen anonymous accusers “gossip girls” and “ankle biters” jealous of both her success and her close relationship with the former president, who frequently consults her and gave her a speaking role at the Republican National Convention earlier this month. She said Trump insiders are talking about the situation, but she’s not instigating it or speaking ill of Vance or the campaign.
“When it comes to concerned people questioning the vetting or selection of JD Vance, the calls are coming in, not going out,” she said. “I’m not calling them and saying this is bad. People are asking me. They’re not just asking me. They’re asking lots of people.”
____________
Continues at
Related:
Conway responds to claim she’s the No. 1 leaker
By Louis Nelson | 04/02/2018 10:21 AM EDT
https://www.politico.com/story/2018/04/02/kellyanne-conway-number-one-leaker-494436