ABC News(WASHINGTON) — President Trump’s counselor Kellyanne Conway defended President Trump’s criticism of GOP Senators John McCain and Lindsey Graham Monday, saying the president’s fellow Republicans need to back his leadership.
“We want them to be there for the president and support him,” Conway 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 Sens. McCain and Graham issued a joint statement criticizing the president’s executive order on immigration and refugees.
Conway also asserted that Trump had accomplished an impressive amount in the short time since he took office, calling his achievements “breathtaking.”
“I mean, Donald Trump has been on the job for, what, eight, nine, ten days. Barack Obama was here for eight years,” she said. “The extraordinary accomplishments in just the first week truly are breathtaking.”
The president’s executive order signed Friday immediately 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 terror attacks, covers none of the three countries where the 9/11 attackers were from — Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates — she said Trump’s executive action 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,” Conway said.
She also said many protesters 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 of the executive order.
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