Kellyanne Conway appeared with Chris Wallace to discuss the President’s decision to replace Reince Priebus as chief of staff with retired General John Kelly.
Conway stated, “So, I will do whatever the president and our new chief of staff, General Kelly, ask me to do. And yesterday, I was on “Fox & Friends” and said very clearly that if we can have protocol, pecking order, order, discipline, and the chief of staff that empowers the staff to succeed, I know that General Kelly has done that on the battlefield, I know that he’s done that as a chief military aide to former cabinet secretary, I know he’s done that as a cabinet secretary.”
“And so, we have great faith that that will be done, and that is nothing about our outgoing chief of staff, Reince Priebus, who should hold his head high, as he exits. Many great things happen in the first six months during his tenure and I think that Reince will go down as one of the most successful and certainly longest serving RNC chairs were as chair, they were able to raise a great deal of money and improve the digital and grassroots operation that allowed the Republican Party to succeed by getting the House, the Senate, the governorships, the state legislatures.”
“So, I’m always a protocol and pecking order kind of gal and I’m very deferential person. I’ve never addressed the president even when he was a candidate and as close as we are as boss and employee, I’ve never addressed him by his first name. I always address people like General Kelly as sir, and I, also with Reince Priebus, was happy to do what I was asked to do, as a member of his staff.”
“But I think so much of the chief of staff role also occurred outside of the building. There’s a little too much going on right now in terms of acting like he is the personnel chief inside the building only. This is somebody who regularly interfaces with the cabinet. And General Kelly is coming from the cabinet. He will be talking to his peers about their different concerns, their different deployment of issues.”