Donald Trump's remark during Sunday's presidential debate that Hillary Clinton would "be in jail" if he were president was just a "quip," Trump campaign manager Kellyanne Conway said Monday on MSNBC's Morning Joe. "That was a quip. And I saw in NBC's own reporting, it was referred to as a 'quip,' so I'll go with NBC on it," Conway said, in response to host Willie Geist's question of whether Trump stood by that threat. Trump offhandedly remarked Sunday night that Clinton would "be in jail" for using a private email server while she was secretary of state if he'd been commander in chief at the time.
While Conway brushed off Trump's jabs about jail, she did support his suggestion that he'd get a special prosecutor to investigate Clinton and her emails if he won the White House. Trump is "channeling the frustration he hears from thousands of voters out on the stump every day" over why Clinton hasn't faced "any type of penalty for doing something where people who do far less have faced a serious penalty," Conway said.
Watch Conway's comments on Trump's "quip," starting at the 2:40 mark. Becca Stanek
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Margaret Atwood’s ‘deliciously naughty’ memoirIn the Spotlight ‘Bean-spilling’ book by The Handmaid’s Tale author is ‘immensely readable’
-
Being a school crossing guard has become a deadly jobUnder the Radar At least 230 crossing guards have been hit by cars over the last decade
-
Crossword: November 4, 2025The Week's daily crossword
-
Senate votes to kill Trump’s Brazil tariffSpeed Read Five Senate Republicans joined the Democrats in rebuking Trump’s import tax
-
Border Patrol gets scrutiny in court, gains power in ICESpeed Read Half of the new ICE directors are reportedly from DHS’s more aggressive Customs and Border Protection branch
-
Shutdown stalemate nears key pain pointsSpeed Read A federal employee union called for the Democrats to to stand down four weeks into the government standoff
-
Trump vows new tariffs on Canada over Reagan adspeed read The ad that offended the president has Ronald Reagan explaining why import taxes hurt the economy
-
NY attorney general asks public for ICE raid footageSpeed Read Rep. Dan Goldman claims ICE wrongly detained four US citizens in the Canal Street raid and held them for a whole day without charges
-
Trump’s huge ballroom to replace razed East WingSpeed Read The White House’s east wing is being torn down amid ballroom construction
-
Trump expands boat strikes to Pacific, killing 5 moreSpeed Read The US military destroyed two more alleged drug smuggling boats in international waters
-
Trump demands millions from his administrationSpeed Read The president has requested $230 million in compensation from the Justice Department for previous federal investigations
