Kellyanne Conway's daughter, Claudia Conway, has lashed out at other social media users amid the news that her parents are set to divorce.
Kellyanne Conway, 56, and her husband George Conway, 59, married in 2001 and have four children. They are reported to have retained lawyers as they plan to end their marriage after years of speculation about their relationship.
After the New York Post reported on Friday that the two were divorcing, the pair released a joint statement on Saturday, in which they confirmed the news.
"We are in the final stages of an amicable divorce," read the statement. "We married more than two decades ago, cherish the many happy years (and four corgis) we've shared, and above all else, our four incredible children, who remain the heartbeat of our family and our top priority."
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"Kindly respect our privacy," they added. "We appreciate the many family members, friends and colleagues who know us, care for us, and support us. We remain united as parents to provide love, joy, comfort and protection to our beautiful children."
Amid the chatter and speculation sparked by the divorce reports, the estranged couple's daughter returned to her Twitter account on Friday following a long break.
Without directly addressing the news, she wrote that "y'all need to shut up [for real]."
The message was met with a series of supportive tweets from other Twitter users, who expressed sympathy for the familial upheaval.
y’all need to shut up fr
— Claudia Conway (@claudiamconwayy) March 4, 2023
Claudia Conway, 18, who last year came out as gay and describes her political views as left-leaning, made headlines as her mother worked as a counselor to former President Donald Trump, publicly lambasting her personally and politically.
The teen also announced on Twitter in August 2020 that she was "officially pushing for emancipation" from her parents. Things came to a head in January 2021, when Claudia Conway accused her mother of posting a topless picture of her via Twitter's now-defunct Fleets feature.
In a December 2022 interview with Bustle, Claudia Conway conceded that she didn't believe her mother intentionally posted the image, which was discovered when her mother was going through her phone.
"My mother helped me through it. She helped me clear it from the Internet. So I wholeheartedly don't think she posted it," said Claudia Conway, who shared the belief that her mother's phone was hacked. "But it was extremely traumatic."
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In the summer of 2021, erstwhile American Idol contestant Claudia Conway revealed in a TikTok post that she was on good terms with her mother.
"I know it's not really anyone's business, but I kind of made it everyone's business—not intentionally," she said at the time. "I was seeking help earlier this year, last year, because I was in a state where I didn't know what to do.
"I know a lot of people are confused about my situation, but I am happy and I'm safe, and my relationship with my mom is actually really good right now.
"She's getting the guidance she needs, I got the guidance I needed, we got the guidance we needed together. And it's all about breaking that cycle. So, we are living proof that you can break that cycle."
Telling Bustle in December that she and her mother had been going to therapy sessions together, Claudia Conway said: "I'm not going to talk about my mom's trauma because it's her story, not mine. But when you have trauma that you have held onto for, let's say, 40 years of your life, and you have children, it is so hard to not pass that down to them."
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The younger Conway added that she now has "all the respect in the world" for her mother for dealing with her past with her in therapy, adding: "Being so young, it's really hard to understand why someone is treating you the way they are, especially when they're your mother and you look up to them so much. I've learned so much about her."
Meanwhile, Claudia Conway's lawyer father George Conway, co-founder of The Lincoln Project, has also spoken out following the split news, firing back at Trump on social media after the real estate mogul's jab.
Shortly after the news broke, Trump—to whom Kellyanne Conway served as senior counselor from 2017 to 2020—celebrated the decision as he lambasted George Conway, who is one of his most vocal critics.
"Congratulations to Kellyanne Conway on her DIVORCE from her wacko husband, Mr. Kellyanne Conway," Trump wrote. "Free at last, she has finally gotten rid of the disgusting albatross around her neck."
"She is a great person, and will now be free to lead the kind of life that she deserves...and it will be a great life without the extremely unattractive loser by her side!" Trump added.
Responding to the post, George Conway wrote on his Truth Social account: "Looking forward to seeing you in New York at E. Jean's trial next month! Hugs and kisses."
George Conway was referring to Trump's trial in New York City on April 25, which involves E. Jean Carroll's lawsuit. Carroll, a former Elle columnist, is suing Trump for defamation over comments he made in which he denied allegations that he raped her in a dressing room in New York department store Bergdorf Goodman in the 1990s.
While Kellyanne Conway served as a senior counselor to Trump, her husband has long had different views of the former president. The couple's opposing views about Trump had been the focus of some scrutiny, while the former president has previously attacked George Conway and claimed he was "mentally ill."
In April 2022, Trump issued a statement through his Save America PAC that referenced a video of Conway and commented that "he's mentally ill, a very sick man. I don't know what Kellyanne did to him, but it must have been really bad. She has totally destroyed this guy—his mind is completely shot!"
In October, George Conway said he believed that Trump could be convicted of multiple crimes arising from an investigation of his handling of classified documents and probes into the events of January 6, 2021.
"In all likelihood, he will be convicted of multiple felonies. I don't know if there's ever going to be a perp walk, but I don't think it's a fantasy either," Conway told Salon.
"This all goes so much to the core of Trump's identity that he will try to tear the country apart before he settles one of these criminal cases," he said.
Kellyanne Conway has remained supportive of her former boss, but in a guest essay for The New York Times in January, she warned it would be "foolish to assume that Mr. Trump's path to another presidency would be smooth and secure."
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