Editor’s note: The following story discusses details of child abuse and may be distressing to some readers.
Claudia Conway, 16-year-old daughter of former Trump Senior Counselor Kellyanne Conway, has been featured in news articles before for her TikToks, some of which feature her talking about political topics, such as Black Lives Matter and Trump. Her views on politics directly contrast her mother’s, which has brought a lot of ire from Trump supporters — and from her parents.
Claudia has said her mother asked her to take down some of her TikToks, and that her family members have been dismissive of her political views. Last summer her father, George Conway, tweeted to journalists demanding they “desist” from interviewing his children, particularly Claudia. Claudia wrote on Twitter that, “my parents, particularly my mother, are trying to silence me by getting me to delete my social media.” This tweet, along with others, was deleted that day, apparently by George.
Unfortunately, silencing political views isn’t the only way Claudia has been hurt by her parents. On Jan. 19, Claudia posted a series of videos on her TikTok that showed Kellyanne fighting with Claudia, swearing, calling names and shouting phrases like “if you only knew what people thought of you.” The next day, Claudia posted a now private TikTok where she wrote “I’m not even kidding if any of you live in this area come pick me up.”
On Jan. 25, YouTuber Tana Mongeau livestreamed a FaceTime call with Claudia on Instagram Live which showed a fight between Claudia and Kellyanne. In the video, Kellyanne accuses Claudia of being a phone addict, and at the end a police officer appears, hanging up the FaceTime call. Later that night, Kellyanne posted photos to her Twitter Fleet (similar to Instagram Stories) that appeared to be nude photos of Claudia. Claudia later confirmed in a TikTok that the photos were indeed of her.
“I don’t know if this is a joke or not but I’m really scared,” she said. In another TikTok, she responded to comments in Morse code, saying she was OK but scared and begging her followers to “spread awareness (about) this since I can’t.”
Later, however, Claudia posted videos on TikTok asking her followers to stop spreading awareness about the issue. She explained that she was “taking a break from social media” to work on her relationship with her mom, and asked people to “stop sending hate to my family” and “stop calling authorities.”
“I shouldn’t have made this all public,” she said. “Please do me a favor and stop spreading it because it hurts me more than it helps me.”
Many, however, are still unconvinced that these most recent messages were posted of Claudia’s own accord. Twitter user Leah Mcelrath said, “I consider them the equivalent of hostage videos, given the situation she’s in.”
In one of the videos posted, Claudia said she “posted those hoping I would get some sort of help. But nothing is gonna happen so I deleted them in fear of getting gaslighted and manipulated.” Claudia also has previously said, “in terms of what can be done, there’s nothing that can really be done. I’ve tried everything. My parents are too powerful and nothing happens. I’m probably going to get in a lot of trouble for this.”
“I’m not looking for attention, I’m not looking for anything, I’m just in a situation that’s really physically, mentally, and emotionally abusive and I think it’s important that everybody sees that,” she said in one video. “My situation is a mess but I know it isn’t my fault,” she said in a comment. “I will continue to post about my experiences as a way to spread awareness.”
The videos posted after the situation on Jan. 25 and 26 show a Claudia repeating that she and her mother love each other, that there is more to the situation than what has been posted before, and that she believed that Kellyanne’s phone had been hacked when the topless photo of her was posted to Kellyanne’s Fleet.
Some have interpreted Claudia’s “vent post, then panic and delete and say nothing happened” TikTok trend as attention-seeking, but I believe that this is far from the case.
I had an abusive mother growing up. The violence was physical for the first half of my childhood, and then later became primarily verbal and emotional. The two times I posted something vaguely negative about my mother on social media, I was yelled at for an hour, told I was bringing shame to the whole family, and made to delete the post and post something else to cover up the situation.
Because of this, I didn’t have the courage to say anything about what was going on at home to anyone until I left my household for college. In every situation where my mother would have faced consequences for her abuse, she manipulated and lied her way out of it. My youngest brothers, who still live with her, know their most trustworthy means of escape is to turn 18, when they can decide where to go for themselves. In that sense, they’re in a similar boat to Claudia, who still has two years away from being an adult.
Claudia’s situation is no doubt magnified by the fact that her abuser is a woman of immense power. In one of her TikToks, Claudia mentioned that she was tired of everything she and her mother did becoming a headline. Though I know I contribute to this by writing this article, I think it’s important to look at situations like this because I cannot possibly be the only person that has resonated with Claudia’s story.
Our experiences as a whole are not exclusive. They are not OK. They are not a sign of love, and they are not normal. Kellyanne’s treatment of her daughter is vile, and I can only hope that eventually Claudia is able to escape. I hope she eventually gets to a place where she can live a safe and uninteresting life, because I believe that’s the freedom she deserves.
Categories: Opinion
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