Earlier this week "fake news" CNN, citing White House 'sources', reported that Kellyanne Conway had been "benched" from making TV appearances after she gave an interview last week in which she said that Genereal Michael Flynn enjoyed the "full confidence" of President Trump just hours before he was dismissed from his post.
But, appearing on the Hannity TV show last night (which would be difficult if she were actually banned from TV appearances) Conway blasted the CNN reports saying simply that "somebody’s trying to start up trouble." Per The Hill:
“I’m not,” she said when asked on Fox News’s “Hannity” if she had been benched. "I mean, somebody’s trying to start up trouble.”
“About 5 percent of what I’m being asked to do in this White House counselor role is TV,” Conway told host Sean Hannity. "And I think that’s about right.”
“I’ve also gobbled up a lot of TV opportunities, so there’s some resentment there on the outside, I believe, and folks trying to use me for clickbait and headlines.”
“We don’t need to be out there all the time,” she said of administration officials. "I don’t think I have to explain myself if I’m not going to go on TV for a week.”
Here is the full interview with Conway (forward to the 17:30 mark for the relevant exchange):
Of course, the questioning from Hannity followed reports from CNN that Conway had been benched for being "off message" and that "having Kellyanne off television" was helping the Trump administration. Per The Hill:
Conway, who was recently a regular fixture on TV news, hasn’t appeared for an on-air interview since early last week. That Monday, she argued that then-national security adviser Michael Flynn had the “full confidence” of President Trump.
Flynn resigned from his post later that day amid revelations that he misled Vice President Pence about the nature of his conversations with the Russian ambassador.
Conway was "off message," a White House source told CNN.
"Clearly they're having much more of a drama-free week," CNN quoted the source as saying. "Having Kellyanne off television is helping them."
And here is the original clip from MSNBC in which Conway confirmed that Michael Flynn enjoyed the "full confidence" of Trump just hours before he was fired.
Of course, none of this should be surprising at this point...if there are no Trump scandals to be covered then fake scandals must be created via anonymous "White House sources."