How 15-year-old Claudia Conway took over social media, from bashing Trump in TikToks to trolling her parents on Twitter
Margot Harris
- Claudia Conway, the 15-year-old daughter of former White House senior counselor Kellyanne Conway and Lincoln Project co-founder George Conway, has established herself as a public figure on TikTok.
- The teenager first went viral in June for her political TikToks in which she voiced her support for the Black Lives Matter movement, distanced herself from her mother's politics, and expressed her dislike of President Donald Trump.
- As Conway continued to post TikToks and acquire hundreds of thousands of followers, she began to publicly spar with her parents on Twitter.
- As her social media posts escalated, she made explosive allegations against her high-profile parents that included abuse.
- After Conway posted on Twitter about "pursuing emancipation," both Kellyanne and George Conway resigned from their respective positions, citing a desire to focus on family.
On the evening of August 23, Kellyanne Conway, a senior counselor to President Donald Trump, announced that she would be leaving the White House to focus on her children. Her husband, the attorney and conservative columnist George Conway, informed his Twitter following that he, too, would leave his position at the Lincoln Project, a political action committee aiming to prevent Trump's reelection, to focus on "family matters."
Following the Conways' resignations, Twitter discussion quickly turned to the couple's 15-year-old daughter, Claudia, who developed a robust social media following over the summer thanks to her anti-Trump TikToks, tweets criticizing her parents' political views, and livestreams where she addresses her complicated family dynamic. Shortly before her parents' announcements, she said she was seeking legal emancipation, alleging she experienced abuse.
Insider hasn't independently verified any of the allegations Claudia Conway made against her parents. Both Kellyanne and George Conway declined to comment on the record for this article.
The teenager's social media presence has stirred up impassioned discussions online, as commenters attempted to reconcile the public nature of her viral TikTok and Twitter posts with their beliefs in a struggling teenager's right to privacy.
Here's a timeline of Claudia Conway's controversial social media presence.
Conway became a public figure in her own right when her political TikToks gained traction in June.
While the teenager has been using TikTok for years — she began posting videos on Musical.ly in 2015, before the app was purchased by the Chinese company ByteDance in 2017 and merged with TikTok — her profile drew thousands of new viewers in June when users discovered her political and anti-Trump content.
Conway participated in several trends on the app, including #savebarron, a satirical movement of social media users hoping to "save" Barron Trump from his father and the White House (the hashtag has generated over 200 million views on TikTok).
In other videos, she voiced her support for the Black Lives Matter movement and encouraged followers to leave one-star reviews of Trump's hotels, golf courses, and restaurants.
The sudden social media attention pushed Conway's follower count to over 31,000 by the end of the month, with several of her videos receiving hundreds of thousands of views. Accordingly, the comments sections of her videos flooded with criticism from Trump supporters calling her social media presence "disrespectful" and support from newfound fans heralding her "legendary" defiance.
Conway currently has over 697,500 TikTok followers.
Following the spike in engagement, Conway began to open up about her politics and relationship with her parents.
On June 30, Conway told Insider's Connor Perrett that her TikToks stemmed from her efforts to learn more about politics and move away from her family's conservative ideology.
"I took the time to educate myself and took the time to branch out and be exposed to other sides and other biases and whatnot," she said in a phone interview where her father, George Conway, was present.
Establishing her own identity in the shadow of a famous parent, however, proved to be a challenge.
"Growing up when your mom is Kellyanne Conway, it's really, really hard to disassociate yourself with that image, because people look at me and are like 'oh, that's Kellyanne Conway's daughter, she must love Trump.' In reality, I really don't," she explained.
The 15-year-old added that she and her parents argued about politics "all the time" and she felt consistently "shut down by [her] entire family."
Still, she insisted at the time, she viewed her mother as her "best friend" — and she described her parents as "the most generous, well-educated people" who she wished "nothing but success and good fortune."
Conway also said that she "respectfully declined" her mother's request to take down the viral videos.
As Conway racked up hundreds of thousands of TikTok followers and received more media attention, she began publicly sparring with her parents online.
As Conway's view counts and overall visibility skyrocketed, she appeared to clash with her parents — and several of her explicitly political videos also disappeared from her profile.
On July 3, George Conway condemned the media coverage of the teenager's social media presence, instructing the press to "desist" contacting his daughter — to which she responded, in a since-deleted tweet, "you're just mad that i'm finally getting my voice heard. sorry your marriage failed."
Apparent family tensions escalated when the young Conway continued tweeting at her parents, asking them to "stop shutting off [her] phone."
In July, Conway said she would stop discussing her family publicly and said she was being "forced" to delete her social media profiles.
On July 10, Conway took to Twitter, where she now has nearly 452,000 followers, to announce that she would no longer be speaking about her family online, claiming that her father attempted to delete her social media profiles.
She went on to discourage her followers from sharing their impassioned responses, writing, "no hate to anyone."
In another tweet, Conway clarified that she felt her Twitter account should not be dedicated to speaking about her clashes with her parents.
"you have questions? go ask them," she wrote, adding that the constant speculation about her family and personal life were unappreciated.
Conway made headlines three days later when she announced on Twitter that her parents were "forcing" her to delete social media.
"apparently, i don't have a platform! it's fake!" she wrote. "love you all so much. keep fighting."
Just two days after posting about her impending departure from social media, Conway posted a TikTok joking about being "cured" of her leftist views.
On July 15, Conway re-appeared on TikTok: this time, with a tongue-in-cheek video voicing her newfound "love" for Donald Trump.
In the clip, which appeared to be addressed to her mother, she said: "Hi Smelly Kelly, the rumors are true, I have been cured from my radical leftism. And now I love Trump and I love our president."
The 15-year-old concluded the video by saying "MAGA" with a wink.
The post was later removed, but Conway continued sharing content, including a video of a Zoom call in which her mother made an appearance and waved at participants.
At the end of July, Conway returned to Twitter, where she promptly resumed her political posts.
Upon her return to the platform, Conway suggested that her phone had been taken away and likely would be taken away again.
"Got my phone back!" she tweeted on July 29. "Probably wont have it for long though considering i'm about to revolutionize twitter brb."
Within 24 hours of return to the platform, Conway responded to several of the president's tweets, calling his statements about the coronavirus "racist"; voicing her love for Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, asking the congresswoman to "adopt" her; and writing, "eat the rich."
Soon after her return to Twitter, Conway faced off with her mother on the platform.
On July 30, Kellyanne Conway tweeted a tribute to Herman Cain, writing that the businessman and political activist had "led a remarkable life and will be missed."
Claudia Conway, however, took issue with her mother's framing of the situation.
"yes it is sad but wasn't your administration complicit in his death ?? yikes," she responded the following day.
Cain died after being hospitalized with COVID-19. While it was unclear how he contracted the virus, he tested positive 11 days after attending a campaign rally for Trump in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
The disagreement between mother and daughter continued when Kellyanne Conway reiterated a comment from Robert Redfield, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, regarding mental health and the COVID-19 pandemic.
"#CDC Director: more deaths among high school students from suicides & drug overdoses than from #COVID19," she tweeted. "He said lockdowns & a lack of public schooling caused a disproportionally negative impact on young peoples' mental health."
The 15-year-old's response was swift.
"How can you possibly compare SUICIDE rates to COVID-19 fatality rates amongst TEENAGERS?" she responded. "As your daughter who has struggled with suicidality in the past, you make no sense."
Conway went on to post screenshots of a text conversation with a phone contact labeled "mother." In the texts, "mother" — presumably, Kellyanne Conway — told her daughter that she was "tired of this," instructing her to trust "the nation's lead doctors" and "learn the facts."
"What an idiotic argument backed with no logic," Claudia Conway responded. "This is not a matter of bipartisan politics. suicidality is NOT to be compared to covid-19 deaths. i'm very disappointed in you."
The tweet has since been deleted.
In August, Conway alleged that her parents had been abusive and said that she was searching for a family lawyer.
On August 2, Conway posted a TikTok video in which she listed the events of 2020 "so far," detailing her mental health struggles, family issues, and viral fame.
In the clip, she claimed to have experienced "non-stop CPS investigations" due to abuse and said that her mother had gotten her arrested.
In response, commenters offered Conway support, and several expressed concern about the teenager's increasingly public family situation.
A representative from the Child & Family Services Agency (CFSA) could not confirm investigations into the Conways, telling Insider that district and federal confidentiality laws preclude CFSA from providing comment.
On August 6, Conway changed her TikTok username, this time from @claudiamconway to @datjerseygirl, citing her desire separate herself from her famous last name.
She then took to Twitter and asked her following how to "get in touch with pro bono lawyers," later specifying that she was looking for a "family" lawyer.
The post received thousands of concerned comments detailing resources for legal aid and offering mental health advice.
Over the weekend, Conway voiced her disappointment in her mother's career choices and told followers that she was "pursuing emancipation."
On August 22, she took to Twitter to say she was "devastated" by the news that her mother would be speaking at the Republican National Convention.
Conway also addressed the situation on TikTok, writing, "just found out my mom is a speaker at the RNC... that's it. i'm out. running away phase 1 starts tomorrow at 7 am."
She went on to tell her Twitter followers that she would be "officially pushing for emancipation," noting that a legal battle would likely "be public one way or another, unfortunately."
In a follow-up tweet, the 15-year-old called her mother's trajectory "heartbreaking" and "selfish."
"It's all about money and fame, ladies and gentlemen," she wrote.
Conway then addressed her father's politics, saying that the two agreed on "absolutely nothing" and that social media users should reassess their admiration for him.
As news of her desire for emancipation circulated on Twitter, Conway fired back against Twitter users spreading misinformation, accusing her followers of "twist[ing] everything."
"I'm not getting emancipated because of my mom's job," she clarified. "It is because of years of childhood trauma and abuse."
Conway then announced that she would be taking a break from social media to focus on her own wellbeing.
The 15-year-old tweeted that her situation was "becoming way too much" and she would be taking a "mental health break" from her social media accounts, thanking her fans for their support and urging followers to cease posting hate comments directed at her parents.
She also posted a TikTok video announcing her social media hiatus.
In the clip, she said she would be deleting TikTok "for a week or so" and urged her followers to "remember to manifest love and peace" for themselves and those around them.
Later that evening, both George and Kellyanne Conway issued statements announcing their resignations from their respective positions.
On Sunday evening, George Conway took to Twitter to announce that he would be withdrawing from The Lincoln Project in order to "devote more time to family matters."
Kellyanne Conway also took to Twitter announce that she was "gratefully & humbly" leaving the White House.
In an attached statement she wrote that she and her husband, who "disagree about plenty," were united in focusing on the wellbeing of their children.
"Our four children are teens and 'tweens starting a new academic year, in middleschool and high school, remotely from home for at least a few months," she wrote. "As millions of parents nationwide know, kids 'doing school from home' requires a level of attention and vigilance that is as unusual as these times."
She added that her resignation was "completely [her] choice," concluding that her presence at home will be "less drama, more mama" for her children.
Conway paused her social media hiatus to address the new family developments with her TikTok audience.
In a TikTok video posted shortly after her parents' resignation announcements, Conway expressed her disbelief.
"Look what I did. Look. At. What. I. Did, ladies and gentlemen," she said in the video, using the app's green screen feature to show her father's tweet in the background.
In response to the deluge of questions from curious viewers, a visibly upset Conway live-streamed her reaction on TikTok.
In the clip, which was re-posted to YouTube, Conway claimed that her parents were leaving their jobs and tabling their plans to divorce in order to keep her from successfully seeking emancipation.
Her parents' public displays of concern for the family, she suggested, were inauthentic.
"I can tell you, being their daughter, they don't give a s---. Like, they don't give a s---," she said in the clip. "My dad doesn't care about me, he's never cared about me, he probably doesn't even know my middle name."
Conway went on to allege that her parents had been physically abusive in the past and she would continue to pursue emancipation following her 16th birthday in October.
Ultimately, she said, her parents' recent gestures were "not genuine."
"I just said this to them: 'You guys [are] putting on this whole show.' You know, they want attention. Them putting on this whole show of them leaving — it just, isn't gonna be effective," she said in the clip, adding that she'd spoken to lawyers who might take her case pro-bono.
Conway also said that she had not been made aware of her parents' decision to turn their attention to the family; she claimed that she found out about their plans on Twitter.
Before abruptly concluding the livestream, Conway added that her mental health was "at an all-time low."
Conway then posted another TikTok where she thanked her supporters for being "amazing."
"I am taking a break to process this recent and stabilize my mental health," she wrote.
Read more:
Claudia Conway posted TikToks celebrating her parents Kellyanne and George withdrawing from politics
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