Kellyanne Conway's Election Advice For Trump Proves She Doesn't Know Him At All

Hoping to transform himself into a two-term president, Donald Trump is barreling down the final weeks before the November 2024 election. In addition to his rallies in crucial swing states, the Republican candidate is giving interviews to Dr. Phil and Sean Hannity and preparing for an important debate against his opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris. Can he come out on top? One of his former advisors thinks so — but only if he changes his trademark strategy.

In an op-ed for the Daily Mail, Kellyanne Conway declared her previous boss a favorite to win the White House because "Americans prefer strength over weakness and commonsense fairness over wokeness." But in order to ensure that victory, Conway added, Trump needs to stick with a two-pronged approach. The first tactic is one he is already employing: "[T]he Democrats dumped Biden, so Trump should, too," Conway said. In other words, when the former president talks about such hot-button issues as the economy, the border crisis, and the military withdrawal from Afghanistan, he needs to do his finger-pointing at Harris. Separating her from the current commander-in-chief, she argued, will only work to the VP's advantage. "We cannot allow her to morph into some fantasized creation of an independent-thinking, work-across-the-aisle fresh face ready to unify a divided nation and a dangerous world," Conway said.

The second part of the strategy is another matter altogether. "Trump must hit Harris with policy — not just personal attacks," Conway insisted. "Harris would prefer to keep this election about snark and soundbites. Trump can and should take the high road, leaving the gutter politics to her." Trouble is, as far as the divisive politician is concerned, the high road is the road less traveled by.

Kellyanne Conway surprisingly stepped down from her position as senior White House adviser the summer before the 2020 election to support her four children as they navigated the new world of online learning in the midst of the COVID crisis. But her devotion to Donald Trump never wavered, as evidenced by her advice in the Daily Mail. To ensure the votes he needs to win, Conway believes, Trump needs to focus on Kamala Harris's policy flaws without resorting to petty name-calling.

But has Conway never read Trump's social media posts? Click on his personal Truth Social feed on any given day, and you'll see him refer to the vice president — frequently — as "Comrade Kamala Harris" or "Crazy Kamala." That's in addition to the many jabs Trump has taken at other politicians and members of the media over the years. CNN once did a partial roundup which included such gems as "Pocahontas" for Sen. Elizabeth Warren, "Sneaky Dianne" [Feinstein], "Crooked Hillary" [Clinton], "Cryin' Chuck Schumer," and "Little Rocket Man" — that last being a zing at North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. During a town hall event with Sean Hannity (via Newsweek), Trump referred to "George Slopadopoulos" [Stephanopoulos] as he predicted the ABC network would be biased against him in its coverage of his debate against Harris. 

Even if Trump doesn't drop his trademark insults, Conway still feels he'll get enough supporters to win. "It is often said, 'I want Trump's policies without Trump's personality'. Good luck with that," she wrote. "Who's to say we get those policies without that personality?" In the end, she predicted, his stance on the issues will be the deciding factor: "Underestimating Trump has always been a fool's errand."