october12–25, 2020 | newyork 25
untrustworthy and reluctant source of
information about the president’s health. In
the absence of credible leadership, we’re left
to rely on anyone with insight. But there’s
no way to verify the claims she makes on
TikTok. She’s said, for example, that Trump
is doing much worse than he has admitted
in public. This is plausible, but unless the
president’s health dramatically worsens, we
mightneverknowif she’s tellingthe truth.
For everyone else, the matter ofClaudia
seems a little less fraught. In time, she might
have become a celebrity anyway; her parent-
agetippedhertowardfameeven before
she’d accumulated more than a million fol-
lowers on TikTok. But once again, she’s a
child, and one who’s posting frominside a
tense and divided household. And there isn’t
always much empathy apparent inthe way
the Twitter-addled respond to her stories.
Nearly everything she posts generates a
headline now—the New York Post has a
running series dedicated to her ideological
war on her parents. On Twitter, well-mean-
ing people praise her for her bravery and
repeat slogans about the power of teen girls.
Teen girls are fine. I used to be one, in the
antediluvian times before TikTok, and
accomplished nothing of note. But the lib-
eral tendency to slot this particularteen girl
into the role of hero does no one any favors.
This is the “one cool trick” approach to
Trump, which hopes that one person or ges-
ture can bring down the debaser-in-chief.
Its hallmark is desperation and a tendency
toward empty gestures. (Remember the
safety pins? The Drumpf hats? All that
RBG apparel?) But a savior isn’t coming. It
wasn’t Comey or Mueller; it won’t be Clau-
dia Conway, even if she did drive her mother
out of the Trump administration.It won’t
even be Joe Biden. The times require a real
political movement, preferably the kind
that isn’t so easily commodified.
As for Claudia, the real villainsare her
parents—yes, both of them. Georgeis a rare
species, a Republican with the common
sense to abhor Donald Trump. But that’s a
low bar to clear, and the celebrity he revels
in has helped push his daughter into the
spotlight. It’s not hard to understand why a
teenage girl who disagrees with her famous
parents might feel obligated to distance
herself as publicly as possible. Journalists
will still have to approach her with care,
evaluating her claims as she makes them.
Everyone else should back off and grow up.
This still isn’t Harry Potter. Our salvation
does not rest on a plucky YA heroine. That’s
your job, and it’s going to take years. ■
IthassettledonClaudiaConway,the
15-year-olddaughterofGeorge andKelly-
anneConway, formercounselortothepres-
ident.WhenClaudiaannouncedonTikTok
recentlythathermotherhadtestedpositive
forcoronavirus,shealsobroke a major
newsstory.Oneofthepresident’s chief
apologistshadbeenbroughtlowbyherown
daughter.NotonlydidKellyannehave
covid-19,Claudiaclaimed,she’d liedtoher
ownfamilyaboutherdiagnosis.Theolder
Conway laterconfirmedherillnessonTwit-
ter,onecaseofmany nowassociatedwith
theTrumpWhiteHouseoutbreak.
In thedaysafterthisadmission,Claudia
returnedtoTikTokto“clarify”heroriginal
claimabouthermother:Kellyannewasn’t
lying,shenowsaid—shereallydid test neg-
ativeuntilfinallyshedidn’t. Kellyanne her-
selfcanbeheardinthevideoshouting at
herdaughter.It’sanuncomfortable scene,
anda reminderthat Claudia, for all her
influence,isn’t oldenough to drive.
Forjournalists,this sets up a dilemma.
Claudiacouldpotentially be a newsworthy
figure:Kellyanneis loyal to Trump. Her
husband,George,is a Republican Never-
Trumper. Claudia’s erstwhile Twitter
accountandactive TikTok thus offer an
insidelookintoone of the most politically
relevanthouseholds in the U.S. She’s also a
childandpossiblyan unreliable narrator.
Neithershenorthepress is to blame for the
factthat theWhite House has been an
F
ora while,it wasJamesComey. Thenit wasRobert Mueller.For a brief
moment,theinternet’s liberal punditsspeculatedthat perhapsMelania Trump
herselfcouldbethetruth-tellerweneededtostanduptoDonaldTrump. But
oneseeminglyunhappymarriageisn’t thebasisforpopularliberation, and
neither,it turnsout,aretwoformerdirectorsoftheFBI.Theprayercandles
andtherumor-mongeringaboutthepresident’s imminentdownfall all came
tonothing.Theresistance—orat least, thefactionthat spendsaltogethertoomuch of its
timeonline—rodeoninsearchofa newsavior.
THE OFFSPRING:
Claudia Conway
Is Not Your Savior
The problem of
Washington’s second-
most-captivating
character.
by sarah jones
Conway used her TikTok
to “clarify” her earlier
post that became
breaking news that her
mom had covid.
PHOTOGRAPH: CLAUDIAMCONWAY/TIKTOK
