- Kellyanne Conway said she would never “forgive or forget” the reporters who contacted her daughter.
- She specifically called out “Peter Pan Taylor Lorenz,” a Washington Post reporter.
- She made the comment in an appearance on The View to promote her new book, “Here’s the Deal.”
Kellyanne Conway is holding one major grudge against the media from her time in the Trump White House.
The former counselor to then-President Donald Trump will “never forgive or forget” reporters who contacted her then-15-year-old daughter, Claudia, to ask about her anti-Trump social media posts, she said in an appearance on The View on Tuesday, during which she promoted her new book, “Here’s the Deal,”
Conway made it clear she didn’t hold the posts against her daughter, saying “she was doing what a lot of teenagers do — pushing back on authority, mom and dad” on Twitter and TikTok.
But the issue came to a head, Conway said, after then-New York Times tech reporter Taylor Lorenz posted a thread of Claudia’s TikToks to her Twitter account.
In her book, Conway writes that Lorenz’s post on Twitter opened the floodgates for other news outlets to reach out to her daughter, and said Claudia’s social media followers soared as a result. She faced “utter terror” for her daughter’s safety but said that Claudia was mesmerized by becoming famous.
“It certainly started with this Peter Pan Taylor Lorenz at the New York Times,” Conway said of the deluge of media attention her daughter received about her social media account. “She wasn’t alone. I have seen the direct messages, people just contacting my daughter. I would never contact your children.”
Insider was one of the first outlets that interviewed Claudia about her social media posts, with her father, George Conway, in the room.
Neither Lorenz nor The New York Times ever reached out directly to Kellyanne Conway or her husband about their daughter, Conway said. A person familiar with the exchange, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Lorenz did reach out to George Conway shortly after Claudia had initially messaged her first.
“Are we supposed to feel better than if it were a 35-year-old man contacting Claudia at 1 a.m. and promising her fame, fortune, and attention?” Conway asked on The View.
“It is outrageous,” she continued. “You can’t have a 15-year-old in the audience without a parent. She can’t get her ears pierced or go to an R-rated movie, drive, vote.”
Conway devotes several pages of her book to knocking down Lorenz, whom she accuses of having “blue blood and thin skin.”
“The unmarried and childless Lorenz spent most days trolling other people’s kids on social media, occasionally slandering them, and often adding nothing to a conversation,” she wrote.
Conway refers to Lorenz as an “evil reporter” and calls other journalists “dumbasses” and “weirdos” for continuing to follow Claudia on social media.
The Washington Post, where Lorenz currently works, defended Lorenz in a statement to Insider. (Disclosure: Lorenz previously worked as a technology and culture writer at Insider.)
“Taylor’s reporting holds some of the internet’s most influential users to account and sheds light on the attention economy in a way no other journalist can,” said Molly Gannon Conway, spokeswoman for the Post. “It’s unfortunate to see such a gross falsehood about her work perpetuated.
Conway writes in her book that Trump and then-first lady Melania Trump reached out to support the Conways, with Trump offering “whatever you need.” She writes that her husband, a prominent anti-Trump lawyer, was initially indifferent before they got on the same page and contacted editors at The New York Times.
George Conway told the editors they did not consent to their daughter being contacted and the editors said they wouldn’t be writing a story.
The press’ coverage of Claudia contributed to Conway’s decision to leave the White House three months before the election to focus on her children. On The View, Conway ended her discussion of the incident by saying she was proud of all four of her children.
“They have more class, dignity, discretion, and judgement in their pinkies than a lot of these adults have,” she said.
Taylor Berman contributed to this report.
This story has been updated with a statement from the Washington Post and additional information about Claudia Conway’s exchanges with Taylor Lorenz and Insider.