Claudia Conway Advances On American Idol [VIDEO]

The Washington Post reports:

Once again, an ABC reality competition series will have ties to the Trump White House — 18 months after former press secretary Sean Spicer made his debut on “Dancing With the Stars,” Kellyanne Conway’s daughter, Claudia, auditioned on the season premiere of “American Idol,” where she successfully made it through to the next round.

ABC was clearly banking on the Conways as a draw for the show’s fourth season on the network; they promoted Claudia, 16, in multiple commercials leading up to Sunday night’s two-hour broadcast, which also featured her father, George, and Kellyanne.

Variety reports:

Granted, this was all taped last fall, before the most seismic family blowups hit the internet early this year. But the first thing that feels jarringly wrong about this is the degree to which a child at the center of a dispute that has bled into public view is being asked to launder the reputations of two adults who should know better.

Kellyanne appears here briefly, first shown in archival footage embracing Donald Trump and then via video link, lecturing her daughter: “You should be nervous, honey, it’s a very humbling experience,” she begins, before declaring that “winners are people who are willing to lose.” (One wishes she’d passed that advice on to those in her professional orbit.)