Conway: GOP Senators Need to Support President Trump
Conway described Trump's accomplishments so far as "breathtaking."
— -- President Trump's counselor Kellyanne Conway defended his criticism of GOP Sens. John McCain and Lindsey Graham today, saying the president's fellow Republicans need to back his leadership.
"We want them to be there for the president and support him," she said on ABC News' "Good Morning America" on Monday.
Conway was responding to questions from ABC News' chief anchor, George Stephanopoulos, about Trump's response on Twitter on Sunday after McCain and Graham issued a joint statement criticizing Trump's executive order on immigration and refugees.
Conway asserted that Trump has accomplished an impressive amount in the short time since he took office, saying, "I mean, Donald Trump has been on the job for — what? — eight, nine, 10 days. Barack Obama was here for eight years," she said. "The extraordinary accomplishments in just the first week truly are breathtaking."
The executive order signed Friday suspends immigration from seven predominantly Muslim countries in the Middle East and Africa — Syria, Yemen, Sudan, Somalia, Iraq, Iran and Libya — for 90 days. It also blocks refugees from entering the country for 120 days; refugees from Syria are barred indefinitely.
When Stephanopoulos asked Conway why the order, which repeatedly cites the 9/11 terrorist attacks, covers none of the three countries where those attackers were from — Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates — she said Trump's order follows the Obama administration's lead.
"These countries were identified by President Obama. President Trump is merely following President Obama's lead on state-sponsored terrorist countries, where they have a history of training and exporting, harboring terrorists," she said.
She added that many of those protesting against the order may not understand what it really says and suggested that the media has overblown its impact.
"This is temporary. It is narrowly prescribed," she said.