Kellyanne Conway, the longtime adviser to President Donald Trump and wife of outspoken Trump critic George Conway, is leaving the White House at the end of August, she said in a statement Sunday.
Conway, who was Trump’s campaign manager before she became one of his staunchest defenders in the White House, said that she and her husband disagreed about plenty but “we are united on what matters most: the kids,” she said.
“Our four children are teens and ‘tweens starting a new academic year, in middle school and high school, remotely from home for at least a few months,” Conway said. “As millions of parents nationwide know, kids ‘doing school from home’ requires a level of attention and vigilance that is as unusual as these times.”
“This is completely my choice and my voice,” she added.
One administration official told NBC News that Kellyanne Conway told the president Sunday night in the Oval Office about her departure. The president expressed support for the decision, the official said.
This official and a second source familiar with the matter told NBC News that Conway is still expected to speak at the Republican National Convention on Wednesday as was previously scheduled.
George Conway, a conservative lawyer who worked at the U.S. Justice Department and co-founded the anti-Trump organization the Lincoln Project, also said Sunday that he is leaving the group to devote more time to family. He added that he’s also taking a hiatus from Twitter, where he has 1.4 million followers.
“Needless to say, I continue to support the Lincoln Project and its mission,” he said. “Passionately.”
The drama between the president and the couple spilled into public view last year, after the lawyer said Trump wasn’t mentally fit to serve. The president called him a “a total loser” and a “husband from hell” who was “jealous” of his wife.
George Conway responded: “You. Are. Nuts.”
Kellyanne Conway, meanwhile, told Politico that the president was within his rights to attack her husband.
“You think he shouldn’t respond when somebody, a non-medical professional accuses him of having a mental disorder?” she said. “You think he should just take that sitting down?”
