October 11, 2017
Counselor to the President Kellyanne Conway is tearing into former Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton for what she believes is a big delay in responding to Harvey Weinstein's unfolding sexual assault scandal.
Conway, who hails from South Jersey, appeared on Fox News' "America's Newsroom" with Bill Hemmer on Wednesday to address President Donald Trump's upcoming appearance in Harrisburg, where he'll talk tax reform, as well as health care; Trump's relationship with Secretary of State Rex Tillerson; and Clinton's recently issued statement.
Clinton waited five days to react to The New York Times investigation that shared multiple allegations of sexual assault against the major film executive. Big-name stars, including Ashley Judd, Gwyneth Paltrow and Angelina Jolie, have since come forward to tell their accounts.
Aside from his major role in Hollywood, Weinstein is also a big Democratic campaign donor who's held multiple fundraisers for the political party. Weinstein has donated thousands to Clinton herself, according to CNN.
Clinton said that she was "shocked and appalled" by the reports in a statement posted Tuesday.
"The behavior described by women coming forward cannot be tolerated," Clinton said. "Their courage and the support of others is critical in helping to stop this kind of behavior."
Conway first took to Twitter to bash the former presidential nominee, saying that it took Hillary "about five minutes to blame [the] NRA" for the mass shooting in Las Vegas last weekend but days "to sorta-kinda blame Harvey Weinstein [for] his [sexual] assaults."
Conway, the first woman to run a winning presidential campaign, elaborated on the tweet in the Fox segment.
"I felt like a woman who ran to be commander in chief and president of the United States, the first one ever who talks about women's empowerment, took an awfully long time to give support to those women who were coming forward and has still, as far as we know Bill, kept the money, kept the dirty money that dirty Harvey has given her and her campaign," Conway said.
U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said in a tweet that he was going to send the donations he received from Weinstein to organizations in his state that are "doing crucial work for survivors and families" and tagged organizations like Safe Horizon and Sanctuary for Families.
"[Clinton] needs to not be a hypocrite about women's empowerment and what it means to be pro-woman," Conway said in the interview.
Shortly before the 2016 presidential election, Clinton quickly slammed Trump for a 2005 "Access Hollywood" tape that surfaced where the now president can be heard making lewd comments toward women.
Conway welcomed Clinton to call her to work on a bipartisan solution to ending sexual assault.
"She can call me in the White House today," Conway said. "She knows the number, she was the first lady for eight years, and work in a bipartisan fashion of sexual assault, I welcome that. We don't hear that from her."
Watch the interview below:
