George Conway, a former Republican lawyer, has suggested that the way for the Democrats to stop Donald Trump from regaining the keys to the White House is to “make him crazy” by waging a “psychological war” against the Republican frontrunner for the party’s presidential nomination.
Speaking at a summit about stopping the former president from successfully seeking a second term hosted by The New Republic, the attorney-turned-anti-Trump activist argued riling the at-times reactionary politician could make him go off-message and potentially even break a gagging order in relation to a New York fraud case he is embroiled in.
“I disagree with some of the critiques that you hear, I think predominantly from the left, about ‘You don’t give him oxygen; you don’t give him airtime,'” he told the progressive magazine. “No. You give him more. Show everybody the crazy.”
The estranged husband of former Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway has long been a vocal critic of the former president since 2018, and recently described him as a “sociopathic criminal” whose supporters have “addicted themselves to [his] lies.”
Newsweek approached the Trump campaign via email for comment on Thursday.
Speaking on Wednesday, Conway suggested Democrats could run TV ads in the areas Trump travels to on subjects that were likely to hit a raw nerve with the former president.
“He knows he’s not that smart, he knows he’s not that rich, he knows that he’s not that good,” the lawyer and Never Trump activist reportedly claimed. “And so, if you go and attack him for the things he knows he is not deep down, it makes him crazy.”
In particular, Conway noted Trump’s ongoing legal troubles as a potential source of attack ad material, given the former president was issued a gagging order by Judge Arthur Engoron, prohibiting him from commenting publicly about court staff involved in the fraud case brought against Trump, his associates and some of his businesses by New York Attorney General Letitia James over allegations he overvalued his assets to secure loans and business deals after he criticized an attorney on social media.
Trump has also been warned about his public statements by a judge in the federal criminal case against him regarding allegations of election interference and has been ordered by another judge in Manhattan against publishing evidence on social media in relation to a case alleging he falsified business records while making hush money payments to adult film star Stormy Daniels.
In all the cases, Trump has pleaded not guilty and denies any wrongdoing.
“The more he gets attacked, the more he will talk about things he shouldn’t be talking about,” Conway told The New Republic. “I think you could even get him thrown into jail by running the right ad.”