Donald Trump’s campaign manager, Kellyanne Conway, said that her candidate’s phone call with Hillary Clinton, in which the Democratic nominee officially conceded the election to the business mogul, was “warm” and “cordial.”
Conway explained on the Today show on Wednesday, November 9, that as the Republican nominee, 70, was getting ready to head to his Election Night event at NYC’s Hilton Hotel, he got the call from the former secretary of state.
“They had a very cordial, warm conversation,” Conway said. “Secretary Clinton congratulated Mr. Trump on his victory and he commended her for being smart and tough and running a really hard-fought campaign.”
Conway added to Good Morning America, “They had a very gracious exchange. … He respects her and her family. It was a very pleasant exchange.”
Conway’s description of the phone call echoed what the president-elect said in his victory speech early Wednesday. “I just received a call from Secretary Clinton. She congratulated us — it’s about us – on our victory, and I congratulated her and her family on a very, very hard-fought campaign,” Trump said. “I mean, she fought very hard. Hillary has worked very long and very hard over a long period of time, and we owe her a major debt of gratitude for her service to our country.”
The Today show anchors also asked Conway if they were disappointed that Clinton didn’t make a public concession speech, which typically happens on Election Night. “It’s not for us to judge her conduct,” Conway said. “I’ve seen reported … that Secretary Clinton will come out and address her supporters and the nation today. … She has to do that on her own comfortable timeline.”
Clinton is indeed expected to deliver her concession speech in the Grand Ballroom of the New Yorker Hotel at 10:30 a.m. ET on Wednesday. As previously reported, she decided not to speak to the crowd at the Javits Center and went back to the Peninsula hotel with her family.
