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A marathon breakfast with Kellyanne Conway

At a Monitor Breakfast, former Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway talked 鈥 and talked 鈥 about Trump 2024, Mike Pence, their 鈥渘asty divorce,鈥 and the midterms.

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Sophie Hills/海角大神
Kellyanne Conway (left), former senior counselor to former President Donald Trump, speaks at the Monitor Breakfast hosted by Linda Feldmann (right) at the St. Regis Hotel in Washington, Nov. 3, 2022.

Kellyanne Conway is a talker. I knew that going in, when the former senior Trump adviser joined us on Nov. 3 at the St. Regis Hotel for a Monitor Breakfast. But try as I might, there was no way this gathering would last just an hour 鈥 the customary length of our breakfasts.

At the one-hour mark, I said, 鈥淥K, so it鈥檚 10 o鈥檆lock 鈥︹

鈥淥h, keep going!鈥 Ms. Conway interjected. 鈥淵ou鈥檙e paying me by the word, right?鈥 she joked.

Long story short, she stayed 1 hour, 45 minutes 鈥 including, after the formal session ended, a half-hour 鈥済aggle鈥 in which a bunch of us stood around her and peppered her with questions.

One might think she was filibustering, but in fact, there was a lot of substance in our marathon session. The Nov. 8 midterm elections are upon us, and the issue environment is rich 鈥 much of it favoring Republicans, starting with the economy, crime, and immigration.

鈥淚f your answer to everything is Jan. 6, Trump, Trump, Trump, abortion, [then] you鈥檙e not responding to what New Jerseyans are telling you is animating them and keeping them up at night,鈥 said Ms. Conway, a longtime GOP pollster, speaking of her native state.

She told us she expected former President Donald Trump to announce 鈥渟oon鈥 that he鈥檚 running for his old job in 2024. And she spoke of the 鈥渘asty divorce鈥 between Mr. Trump and former Vice President Mike Pence, and how, in her view, they need to find 鈥渁 responsible way to co-parent鈥 the Republican Party.

Ms. Conway speaks with Mr. Trump 鈥渙ften,鈥 she said 鈥 though wouldn鈥檛 reveal how often. 鈥淚鈥檓 also a unicorn,鈥 she added. 鈥淚 speak with Mike Pence, too.鈥

My report on the breakfast can be found here. The C-SPAN video of our session 鈥 including some of the 鈥渙vertime鈥 gaggle 鈥

Ms. Conway allowed other dimensions of her life to shine through as she spoke. After my introduction, she encouraged us all to enjoy our breakfast. 鈥淚 was raised by four Italian women,鈥 she said. 鈥淲e believe in eating at all times. So, mangia!鈥

She also mentioned her four teenage children, a personal Gen Z focus group. Her twin 18-year-olds, she said proudly, are set to vote for the first time 鈥 and are 鈥渁bout to cancel each other鈥檚 vote out.鈥

And of course I had to ask the South Jersey native about her Philadelphia teams. The Phillies, she noted ruefully, 鈥渕ade the wrong kind of history last night鈥 鈥 on the sad end of the second-ever no-hitter in World Series history.

鈥淚鈥檓 really an Eagles fan,鈥 she said.

Four years ago, at our last Monitor Breakfast with Ms. Conway, the vibe was rather different. Mr. Trump was president, and he kept tweeting about 鈥渇ake news鈥 as we reporters met with his close adviser.

Going into that breakfast, Ms. Conway had agreed to stay for 45 minutes. But the time flew, and after a thumbs-up from her assistant across the room, I knew we could keep going. In the end, she stayed an hour and a quarter. This time, I should have known better.聽

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