Getting rid of White House counselor Kellyanne Conway is not even on the table, Trump told “Fox and Friends” Friday.
She’s too “loyal.”
“It really sounds to me like a free speech thing, it doesn’t sound fair,” Trump said, suggesting that his regular TV surrogate should be allowed to speak her mind about his political opponents when she’s asked questions about them, despite the rules of the Hatch Act, which bars federal employees from doing just that.
“Mr. President, you’re not going to fire her?” Fox’s Steve Doocy asked.
“No, I’m not going to fire her,” he said. “I think she’s a terrific person, she’s a tremendous spokesperson, she’s been loyal, she’s been — she’s just a great person, I would certainly not think — based on what I saw yesterday, how could you do that? They have tried to take away her speech, and I think you’re entitled to free speech in this country.”
Trump later told Fox News that he was going to have a “very strong briefing” on the issue and “I’ll see, but it seems to me to be very unfair, it’s called freedom of speech.”
On Thursday, the Trump-appointed chief of the Office of Special Counsel recommended that Trump fire Conway over repeated violations of the Hatch Act. The White House pushed back in a statement and a scathing letter sent by White House counsel Pat Cipollone, accusing the OSC of opening the investigation because of media reports.
