Presidential counselor Kellyanne Conway says in a new interview that a woman grabbed and shook her while she was out with her teenage daughter at a Mexican restaurant in Bethesda, Maryland, late last year.
"Somebody was grabbing me from behind, grabbing my arms, and was shaking me to the point where I felt maybe somebody was hugging me," Conway told CNN for its series "Badass Women of Washington." "She was out of control. I don't even know how to explain her to you. She was just, her whole face was terror and anger. She was right here, and my daughter was right there. She ought to pay for that."
The woman, Mary Elizabeth Inabinett, 63, of Maryland, left before police arrived, but was charged in November with second-degree assault and disorderly conduct. Her trial has been set for March, but her lawyer denied Conway's allegations of abuse, saying she was exercising her right to freedom of speech.
Conway's daughter took a short video of the encounter, and police used that to match with a photo of Inabinett they got from state vehicle records after they got her name from her restaurant receipt.
Conway said she told Trump about the incident long after it happened, and commented to CNN that the episode was the latest example of members of the Trump administration being harassed.
"The idea that we should be treated differently because of anything, of anything, because of where we work or what we believe or what we're trying to do on behalf of this great nation, that's complete nonsense," Conway said.
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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