Former Trump advisor Kellyanne Conway to visit University of Iowa

Conway will deliver a speech criticizing President Joe Biden’s presidency at the Iowa Memorial Union on Thursday.

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Joseph Cress

Kellyanne Conway, the counselor to the President, speaks during the Family Leadership Summit in Des Moines on Saturday, July 15, 2017. The sixth-annual summit featured speakers Conway, Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, and Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, as well as The Benham Brothers.

Caleb McCullough, Executive Editor


Kellyanne Conway, former campaign manager and senior counselor to former President Donald Trump, will deliver a speech at the University of Iowa on Thursday.

Hosted by the Iowa chapter of Young Americans for Freedom, Conway’s speech, titled “Trump brought peace, Biden brings chaos,” will compare the presidencies of Trump and President Joe Biden, Iowa YAF spokesperson and UI student Mary Weston said.

The event will be held at the Iowa Theater in the Iowa Memorial Union at 7 p.m. on Thursday.

Weston said YAF decided to bring Conway to campus because she is a role model for conservative college students and women.

“She’s unapologetically conservative,” Weston said. “Which, I know sometimes that is perceived as extreme, but what’s good about it is she’s a great role model to the conservatives on the University of Iowa campus.”

Conway, a frequent speaker at YAF-sponsored events at college campuses, will speak at University of Wisconsin-Whitewater on Wednesday. Also on Wednesday, Iowa State University’s YAF chapter will host conservative pundit Ben Shapiro for a speech at ISU.

Conway recently made headlines after she said she knew of allegations against Trump-backed Nebraska Gubernatorial candidate Charles Herbster, who faces sexual assault allegations from eight women, including Republican Nebraska Sen. Julie Slama. Herbster filed a lawsuit against Slama on Friday.

YAF brought former Vice President Mike Pence and Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks, R-Iowa, to campus this school year. Weston said COVID-19 restrictions prevented YAF from bringing speakers for the past two years, but now the group is trying to bring more conservative speakers to campus.

“This kind of allows conservatives to feel more comfortable in their own skin when they have a speaker to relate to,” Weston said.