Kellyanne Conway Conveniently Sidesteps Question About Trump Holding Press Conferences

By J.D. DurkinJan 3rd, 2017, 7:41 am
 

July 27, 2016 is a date that journalists and political media reporters know well: it was the last time that that Donald Trump held a press conference, and while the President-elect once announced plans to hold one in mid-December to discuss absolving his involvement in his business dealings, the event was postponed. And as of today, it doesn’t appear as if we can get any definite answers yet.

Kellyanne Conway, the former campaign manager turned counselor for the next administration, took questions from Matt Lauer and guest coanchor Katie Couric Tuesday morning on TODAY; when pressed about Trump’s press conference delay, Conway bobbed and weaved her way straight to a nonanswer on the topic.

“Real quickly,” prompted Lauer on Tuesday. “When is [Trump] gonna have a press conference? He promised one in December to talk about conflicts of interest in his business. Last time he held one was 159 days ago — he famously, at that point, urged Russian hackers to look for Hillary Clinton‘s emails. When is he gonna hold a press conference?”

But Lauer also prompted a follow-up to the press conference query, which Conway took as her out to avoid the first controversial topic altogether. “And when is he gonna divulge what he says he knows that others don’t know about that Russian hacking?” Lauer asked.

“Well, I’ll take the second part first,” she said, invoking the planned and previously announced briefings with intelligence officials regarding the cyberwarfare efforts. She largely filibustered her answer and only faced one follow-up from Lauer, and it had nothing to do with press conferences.

Lauer moved on without pressing further, letting Conway off the hook from answering the question altogether. She told Anderson Cooper on CNN Monday night however, “I believe it was rescheduled for Jan. 11, originally, and if the lawyers and the compliance officers feel like we’re ready, then we’ll stick to that date. It’s really up to them,” she said nebulously, still leaving wiggle room for anything to happen.

So… January 11th? Maybe. Last year, Trump took to Twitter to pat himself on the back for his press conference prowess.

Watch above via TODAY Show.
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[image via screengrab]

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