Some Credit Kellyanne Conway's Prior Anti-Immigration Platform As Giving Trump His Presidential Win

The unwinding of Morning Joe's lovefest with Donald Trump hit a new low in February 2017, when the program's hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski banned Kellyanne Conway from appearing on the show. "She's just saying things," Scarborough explained, "just to get in front of the TV set and prove her relevance."

Brezezinski says in a new interview with Variety that more news programs should ban Conway.  “I’m surprised that these little acrobatic games are played with her on live national television. I think it denigrates what we do. It’s clear she doesn’t bring anything to the table. It’s clear she doesn’t know exactly what she’s talking about. It’s clear she’s making it up as she goes along.”

“Quite seriously, it’s unbelievable she has this job and what it says about this presidency that she has this job,” Brzezinski continued. “Look, it’s not the most comfortable thing to do, but it’s something you just have to. You have to say, ‘This is garbage,’ and rip up the script, and you have to cut to the chase and cut through the b.s., and she brings nothing more to the table than a lot of that.” 

Ratings are high for MSNBC's three-hour morning show, with Willie Geist also joining 'Morning Joe' as a co-host of the decade-old show. " Season to date as of February 26, viewership for “Morning Joe” among people between 25 and 54 -- the audience most coveted by advertisers – was up a little over 64%," writes Variety.

The Conways: Trump's Power Couple

A new article by Molly Ball for The Atlantic gives Kellyanne Conway a lot more credit, arguing that Conway’s theory that Republicans could win a presidential election with an anti-immigration message had a major influence on Trump’s platform—and his win.

Years before Conway went to work on Trump’s campaign—when she was still a midlist conservative pollster and Steve Bannon was still running Breitbart—the two were charter members, Bannon recently told me, of the “cabal” he was forming behind the scenes to upend the Republican establishment. And Conway’s ideas were the key to a major shift in the way Trump addressed immigration, which became his signature issue.

PRESIDENT TRUMP HAS SELECTED GEORGE T. CONWAY III, RIGHT, THE HUSBAND OF KELLYANNE CONWAY, TO HEAD THE CIVIL DIVISION OF THE JUSTICE DEPARTMENT. CREDITMATT ROURKE/ASSOCIATED PRESS

Kellyanne Conway's husband George T. Conway III has been named by President Trump to head the civil division of the Justice Department. people familiar with the decision said on Saturday, placing him in "charge of a crucial office charged with defending Mr. Trump’s contentious travel ban and lawsuits alleging that his business activities violate the Constitution."

Mr. Conway is a partner at the New York City firm of Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, specializing in securities, contract and antitrust litigation, as well as mergers and acquisitions, reports the New York Times. He is a graduate of Harvard University and the Yale Law School.

Mr. Conway, 53, would lead a department of about 1,000 lawyers with a vast reach across the government, handling issues like national security, consumer protection and enforcing federal programs. Conway would also represent the actions of the president himself and legal challenges alleging conflicts of interest connected to Trump's vast real estate and business empire, from which the president has refused to divest.

Kellyanne Conway Is a Star New York Magazine

The very presence of Kellyanne Conway brings comfort to the president, writes Olivia Nuzzi. Off the campaign trail where he thrives, separated from his wife and sons, a nostalgic Trump adores Conway's inclination to indulge his preference for fast food.  Trump -- the master of female appearances on TV -- makes suggestions for shows she should do, topics she should broach. Almost everyone who meets Conway -- even those predisposed not to like her -- call her a compelling character — something Trump values.

Conway stuns in her ability to manipulate the press in defense of Trump. She's far more than an expert spinner, says Nuzzi. She simply refuses to accept any of the media's premises in an interview debate. When Conway refuses to give in about crowd size, she's fundamentally undercutting any pretense of fair fact-checking by the press. It's a long-term strategy of undermining the press -- which has become a cornerstone of the Trump administration. 

Of course, to hear Conway tell it, nothing that nefarious is going on at all. She shrugs when asked about the inaccurate things she’s said. The Bowling Green Massacre? She meant to say “Bowling Green masterminds,” she told me, referring to the would-be terrorists who were apprehended before they staged an attack. And alternative facts? “Two plus two is four. Three plus one is four. Partly cloudy, partly sunny. Glass half full, glass half empty. Those are alternative facts,” she said, further defining the infamous phrase as “additional facts and alternative information.”