Kellyanne Conway recently sat down for an extensive interview with New York magazine, in which she opened up about how her life has changed in the nine months since she teamed up with President Donald Trump.
Here are five things we learned from the profile, which was published online on Saturday, March 18.
Conway’s Secret Service Code Name Is ‘Blueberry’
Conway, 50, is one of the only officials in the White House, other than Trump and Mike Pence, to have Secret Service protection. The president, 70, requested protection for Conway after she was sent a suspicious white substance and received a slew of threats. Ever since then, she has answered to the Secret Service code name “Blueberry,” a moniker she was given because of her days picking berries in southern New Jersey.
At the age of 16, Conway was named Miss New Jersey Blueberry Princess and was later crowned World Champion Blueberry Packer for how quickly she packed berries into crates. When the Secret Service said her name had to begin with the letter “B,” she replied, “‘Well, that’s easy!'” Now agents trail Conway’s every move, including trips to the supermarket. “It’s kind of embarrassing,” she admitted.
Conway Enters the Oval Office Unannounced
The Camden, New Jersey, native told the publication she has “walk-in privileges” and can enter the Oval Office to talk to Trump whenever she wants. “When I want to talk to him, I go talk to him,” she said. “Eighty-five percent of what I discuss with him will never be revealed. … I don’t need to talk to him through the TV. I just go in and talk to him.”
Trump Recently Followed Conway on Twitter
Rumors swirled online that the commander in chief had recently unfollowed Conway on Twitter, the social media platform where he often shares his thoughts about Saturday Night Live, the media and various other topics. Conway told New York magazine that her boss never followed her in the first place, and she even sent him a text message to confirm. Immediately after sending the text, New York reporter Olivia Nuzzi noted that she “watched the president’s ‘following’ list jump up by one.” Conway added, “He has 30 million followers and follows, like, 42 people! Now 43.”
Press Secretary Conway? Nope!
The former campaign manager told the publication she does not envy White House press secretary Sean Spicer‘s job, though they do share a love for cinnamon-flavor Orbit gum. Asked if she would ever want the position, she rolled her eyes and replied, “Slit my wrists, bleed out, put cement shoes on, jump off the bridge and then I’ll take the job — are you kidding me?”
Conway Defends Using the Phrase ‘Alternative Facts’
During a January 22 interview on NBC’s Meet the Press, Conway coined the now-infamous term “alternative facts” while discussing Spicer’s unfounded claim that the media underreported attendance numbers for Trump’s inauguration. The phrase immediately went viral, became a trending topic on Twitter and has since become one of the most talked-about moments of Conway’s tenure thus far. “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 told New York, further defining the term as “additional facts and alternative information.”
Conway also claimed that her infamous “Bowling Green massacre” gaffe — in which she referenced a terrorist attack that never actually happened — was merely a slip of the tongue and that she had intended to say “Bowling Green masterminds.” She told New York mag, “Anybody who pretends I’m not smart or not credible, it’s like, ‘I’ve spoken 1.2 million words on TV, OK?’ You wanna focus on two here, it’s on you, you’re a f–king miserable person, P.S., just whoever you are.”
