Kellyanne Conway tells behind-the-scenes story about Clinton's concession call

Timing was everything.

ByABC News
March 17, 2017, 12:33 PM

— -- Trump’s surprising victory on election night didn’t stop things from going off schedule behind the scenes, Kellyanne Conway revealed Friday.

The campaign manager-turned-counselor to the president recounted a story about the “remarkable moment” when Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton called to concede the election during an appearance at the National Review Institute’s Ideas Summit in Washington, D.C., this morning.

She explained that she and Robby Mook, Clinton’s campaign manager, had exchanged emails the night before the election about how the concession call timing should go.

Conway said that the situation began to unfold when The Associated Press called the election for Trump at 2:30 a.m. on Nov. 9.

“We had agreed the night before … that within 15 minutes of the AP calling the race for Secretary Clinton, they would wait 15 minutes and then she would take the podium and declare victory. So he was basically saying that you have 15 minutes, you have 15 minutes for Trump to get out there,” Conway said of her email conversation with Mook.

“And then he says in the event that Mr. Trump wins, Secretary Clinton will call him within 15 minutes of the AP,” she said.

PHOTO: Staffer Huma Abedin listens as former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton concedes the presidential election at the New Yorker Hotel, Nov. 9, 2016, in New York City.
Staffer Huma Abedin listens as former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton concedes the presidential election at the New Yorker Hotel, Nov. 9, 2016, in New York City.

Conway said that just as communication director Jason Miller pointed out the AP victory, she looked down at her phone “and it says Huma Abedin,” Clinton’s longtime aide and campaign vice chair.

“I say ‘Hey Huma, what’s up?’ And she’s absolutely lovely, she really is. And she said ‘Hey Kellyanne, Secretary Clinton would like to speak to Mr. Trump,’” Conway said.

“My husband took a screenshot of that … and the rest is history,” she added. “That was just really a remarkable moment.”

Related Topics