Trump's new campaign manager stands by previous Trump criticism, except on tax returns

Kellyanne Conway, Donald Trump's new campaign manager, said some pretty critical things about her new boss when she worked on rival presidential campaigns in the spring, and George Stephanopoulos showed her some of those clips on Sunday's This Week. "So what changed for you, and do you stand by those comments?" he asked. "I do, and the reason is I don't like when people hurl personal insults. That will never change," Conway said. When Stephanopoulos asked if Trump would stop insulting people, she said Trump "doesn't hurl personal insults."

Stephanopoulos circled and asked if Conway stood by her remarks that Trump should be transparent in releasing his tax returns. "I'm glad he's transparent about a number of things," she said. "I've learned since being on the inside that this audit is a serious matter and that he has said that when the audit is complete, he will release his tax returns." Conway added that she knows "as a pollster that what concerns people most about 'taxes' is their own tax liability, and so we appreciate people being able to see Hillary Clinton's plan and Donald Trump's plan and figure out who will really get the middle-class tax relief."

Conway was also on CNN on Sunday, and Dana Bash also asked if she stands by her call for Trump to release his taxes. "So now that I'm on the inside I know something I didn't know then, which is that he's under audit and what that means," she said. "And he has said very clearly, and I back him up completely, that when the audit is completed, he will release the tax returns." When Bash noted that Trump's returns from 2002 to 2008 are no longer under audit, Conway said she doesn't think Trump should release those, either. "No, I would not, and this entire tax return debate is somewhat confounding to me in the following sense: I don't think that it creates one job, gets one more individual who does not have health insurance covered by health insurance."

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Conway took every chance she could to turn the conversation to Hillary Clinton, whom she called "the least accountable, least transparent, I think, joyless candidate in presidential political history." Clinton has released her tax returns from 2007 through 2015, and no major party candidate has declined to release his returns since 1976. Conway did not just discuss taxes, though. She told Stephanopolous that Trump has had his "best week so far," specifically mentioning his "what the hell do you have to lose?" pitch to black voters: "Those comments are for all Americans. And I live in a white community, I'm white, I was very moved by his comment."