Donald Trump’s former campaign manager, Kellyanne Conway, guested on “Late Night” on Tuesday. Perhaps fearing Fallon-esque backlash for normalizing the president-elect, host Seth Meyers pressed hard on an unverified “dossier” — alleging Trump had been compromised, blackmailed by the Russian government — published by BuzzFeed as the show prepared to tape.
“Nothing’s been confirmed,” Conway said. “And, I have to say, as an American citizen — regardless of your party and if you don’t like politics at all . . . we should be concerned that intelligence officials leak to the press and won’t go and tell the president-elect or the president of the United States himself, now Mr. Obama, what the information is. They would rather go tell the press . . .”
Conway’s argument — albeit valid — is somewhat surprising, as Trump is rumored to be a proponent of leaks, regardless of where they’re taken.
Though the report claims Trump was briefed on the findings, Conway reiterated that the president-elect “has said that he is not aware of that.”
Trump is scheduled to hold a press conference Wednesday, his first since becoming president-elect two months prior. Asked why he’s shirked the press, Conway said Trump “has been very busy forming his government.”
“But every president who ever puts together a government is busy,” Meyers rebutted. But “they haven’t had to meet with Kanye [West].”
To close out the interview, Meyers bet Conway that Trump will not release his tax returns during his first year in office. Again, Conway dodged: “And I bet — and I know, because this was talked about during the campaign many times — I bet that most Americans really care what their tax returns are gonna look like after he’s been president for four years.”
“I think that means you agree with me,” Meyers responded, getting the last word.
