Kellyanne Conway Tells Rosie O’Donnell To Get A Husband And It Goes About As Badly As You’d Expect
What started as a discussion about Trump ended with Conway reviving a punchline that felt decades out of date.
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Kellyanne Conway’s attempt at pundit humor landed with a thud this week after she suggested that Rosie O’Donnell might feel better about Donald Trump if she simply found herself a husband. The remark, made on Fox News’ The Five, quickly sparked backlash for its casual homophobia and stunning lack of self awareness.
The exchange unfolded during a panel discussion about a TikTok video in which O’Donnell called for Trump’s removal from office under the 25th Amendment. But the political argument was not what seemed to bother Conway most. Instead, the former Trump adviser turned the conversation personal. “Don’t you have anybody who loves you?” Conway asked on air. “You need a hug or a husband or a hobby or a hairy dog.”
Related: Rosie O’Donnell Explains Why Trump Was Never Welcome On Her ’90s Talk Show
The comment immediately raised eyebrows, not least because O’Donnell has been openly (and famously) lesbian since 2002. Conway appeared either unaware of that fact or unconcerned by it. In either case, the suggestion read as outdated and dismissive.
Conway, who divorced her husband George Conway in 2023, continued by mocking O’Donnell’s decision to relocate to Ireland earlier this year. “She moved to Ireland but never moved on,” Conway said, before describing what she called Trump Derangement Syndrome as “toxic and chaotic and sometimes frightening.”
O’Donnell’s move was not exactly impulsive. She has said she left the United States out of concern for her family, including her non-binary 12-year-old child, and fears about the far-right Project 2025 agenda. Her criticism of Trump has also made her a frequent target of his insults and threats. The president has previously called her “fat” and a “slob,” and earlier this year he publicly floated the idea of revoking her citizenship.
Related: Rosie O’Donnell Has Strong Words After Trump Threatens To Revoke Her Citizenship
Many viewers criticized Conway’s shift from policy debate to personal attack, and others pointed out the irony of Conway offering marital advice at all. One commenter wrote, “I’ve never seen George publicly disparage this woman. That was low. Why would you tell someone they need a husband when you don’t even have a husband yourself?”
Another added, “Kellyanne and her listeners don’t know that Rosie is gay, that she has a family who loves her… that she isn’t looking for a husband? I think Kellyanne might need one of those…”
This week’s dustup suggests that, for some of Trump’s allies, the urge to police outspoken women, especially queer ones, is still very much alive.
