https://youtu.be/D9CQDeKKQmc?t=4s
On Sunday, Kellyanne Conway appeared on Fox News’ Media Buzz to defend her boss on various subjects but also found herself mopping her own mess. Naturally, this includes Conway’s Thursday night invention of a terror attack called the “Bowling Green Massacre,” which made her the laughing stock of the internet (but also prompted donations for a good cause). Speaking with Howard Kurtz, Conway was not thrilled with how folks called her out after she only “misspoke one word.”
Conway has already tweeted that she meant to say “terrorists” rather than “massacre” while referring to the arrests of two Iraqi nationals in Kentucky. The two men, who carried out improvised explosive device (IED) attacks in U.S. soldiers in Iraq, were convicted on terrorism charges after trying to move weapons to Al-Qaeda in Iraq. Conway also called her “massacre” label an “honest mistake,” and she’s still irritated at this continued controversy:
“I misspoke one word. The corrections in the newspapers that are attacking me are three paragraphs long every day … I clarified immediately. I should have said plot or I should have just called them terrorists … I should have said terrorists and not massacre … I’m sure it will live on for a week.”
Is Conway correct that this Bowling Green controversy will last another week? It will probably always be remembered because “massacre” is only one word, but it’s a helluva word. This wasn’t a tiny mistake, and Conway appears to demand more forgiveness than she’s willing to give to the press.
Writing for CNN Money, Brian Stelter notes that Conway expects more “leniency” than she, Sean Spicer and Trump give to journalists who make errors but correct them immediately. This includes their repeated bashing of TIME‘s Zeke Miller, who erroneously reported that Trump removed the Martin Luther King Jr. bust from the Oval Office. Miller swiftly corrected himself, but Conway and Spicer continue to complain about the mistake as evidence of media bias.
Also during this Fox News appearance, Conway called out Chelsea Clinton for tweeting, “Please don’t make up attacks.” Clinton has recently begun dipping her toes into bolder Twitter commentary, but Conway thinks, “She should leave me out of it.” Conway would also appreciate an apology from the daughter of her boss’ former rival, although she thinks it’s “funny” that Chelsea criticized her after working for NBC. You can watch clip below.
@KellyannePolls on @MediaBuzzFNC talking 👉#fakenews👉 @ChelseaClinton nasty fake info tweet 2 #KellyAnn‼#Chelsea👉$600k 👉 @nbc Zero reports🤔 pic.twitter.com/ug2CYLV7wP
— Debbie Aldrich 🇺🇸 (@DebbieAAldrich) February 5, 2017