Washington lawyer George Conway, husband to White House adviser Kellyanne Conway, called the Trump administration a “shitshow in a dumpster fire” in response to a question about why he turned down a position with the Justice Department.
Conway was speaking on Yahoo News’ podcast Skullduggery, in an episode released Friday. The longtime attorney recently formed Checks and Balances, a group of conservative lawyers who want to defend the Constitution against infringement.
Conway said he turned down a job offer with the Justice Department last year partly because Trump fired FBI director James Comey, which led to the appointment of the special counsel.
“The administration is like a shitshow in a dumpster fire,” Conway said. “And then you got the Comey firing. And then you have him going on TV saying I had Russia on my mind…I’m going to be in the middle of a department he’s at war with. Why would anybody want to do this?”
Earlier this year, Conway left the Republican Party. On the podcast, he explained why: “I don’t feel comfortable being a Republican anymore,” he said. “I think the Republican Party has become something of a personality cult.”
Asked if President Trump is stable, Conway said, “No comment.”
Kellyanne Conway has served as one of Trump’s most vociferous and gymnastic defenders from the 2016 presidential campaign to the present. (She coined the term “alternative facts” in attempting to defend the president on TV).
George Conway’s efforts could make for an interesting Thanksgiving at the Conway household, or not. He is no stranger to criticism of Trump, having sent nearly 100 tweets critical of Trump in one month earlier this year. This month, he published an op-ed in the New York Times arguing that Trump’s appointment of acting attorney general Matt Whitaker was unconstitutional because Whitaker was not Senate confirmed, which the Constitution specifies for positions at that level.
But Conway said his new organization is not about Trump. “We don’t specifically mention, use the T-word in our mission statement,” he said. “It’s really not about any single individual. It’s about the principles. It’s about the rule of law … You know, the power of truth, the independence of the criminal justice system, individual rights and civil discourse.”
